New eyes looking at solar activity: challenges for theory and simulations – placing it into context

Abstract

Solar Cycle 24 has opened a new era in solar radio physics as we now have instruments that can probe solar processes from submillimeter to kilometer waves. New and upgraded instruments provide data that enable studies of both energetic particles and thermal plasma, enhancing our knowledge of solar eruptions and acceleration and propagation of particles, through the solar chromosphere and corona and into the interplanetary space. In this Topical Issue we highlight the new observational capabilities and discuss the theoretical issues connected to solar radio emission and interplanetary radio physics.