What is the National Radio Quiet Zone?

The National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ) is a large area of land in West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland created by the FCC and NTIA to minimize radio frequency interference to sensitive radio astronomy equipment. It surrounds the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) at Green Bank, West Virginia, and the Sugar Grove Station. Within this zone, fixed radio transmitters are heavily regulated or restricted to prevent their signals from drowning out the extremely faint cosmic signals studied by radio telescopes. Distractors suggesting it surrounds Cape Canaveral, White Sands, or an FCC monitoring station in Maryland are incorrect, as those locations involve entirely different regulatory environments or facilities.