The prevalence of second harmonic radiation in type III bursts observed at kilometric wavelengths

We present the analysis of 64 type III solar bursts that drifted from 3.5 MHz down to the range 350-50 kHz between March 1968 and February 1970. Bursts arrival times were predicted by a simple model and then compared with observations. The results show that, as the bursts drift, the fundamental often disappears below a certain frequency range while the second harmonic remains. Below about 1 MHz the second harmonic occurrence predominates. Recognizing this fact we deduce a mean velocity of 0.32c±0.02c for the exciter particles, where the uncertainty is the standard error and c the velocity of light in vacuum; the electron density model used is comparable to a solar wind model.