Radio Astronomy and Spectrum Management: The Impact of WARC-79

As a valid use of the radio spectrum and an official radio service, radio astronomy was very much a part of the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC-79). The allocation of frequency bands is vitally important for the sustained health of the science. WARC-79 provided first the impetus for astronomers, worldwide, to examine the allocation requirements of radio astronomy and then the opportunity to communicate those needs to the regulatory community. The characteristics of radio astronomy, the criteria for interference-free operation, possibilities for sharing with other radio services, and the need for frequency-band allocations are discussed because all bear directly on an evaluation of the Conference. The Final Acts of WARC-79 are examined from the viewpoint of their impact on radio astronomy.