A dual-frequency, multiyear monitoring program of compact radio sources

We present light curves for 149 sources monitored with the Green Bank Interferometer. The light curves are at two radio frequencies (approximately 2.5 and 8.2 GHz) and range from 3 to 15 yr in length, covering the interval 1979-1996, and have a typical sampling of one flux density measurement every 2 days. We have used these light curves to conduct various variability analysis (rms flux density variations and autoregressive, integrated, moving average modeling) of these sources. We find suggestive though not unambiguous evidence that these sources have a common, broadband mechanism for intrinsic variations, in agreement with previous studies of a subset of these sources. We also find that the sources generally display a short-term variability (similar to 10 days) that arises from radio-wave scattering in an extended medium. These conclusions extend those of Fiedler et al., who used a subsample of these data. The primary motivation for this monitoring program was the identification of extreme scattering events (ESEs). In an effort to identify ESEs in a systematic manner, we have taken the wavelet transform of the light curves. We find 15 events in the light curves of 12 sources that we classify as probable ESEs. However, we also find that five ESEs previously identified from these data do not survive our wavelet selection criteria. Future identification of ESEs will probably continue to rely on both visual and systematic methods. Instructions for obtaining the data are also presented.