The time structure of solar radio decametre Type III bursts occurring during the periods of enhanced emission is investigated. It is found that the time profiles can take a variety of forms of which three distinct types are the following: (1) profiles where the intensity rises to a small but steady value before the onset of the main burst, (2) the intensity of the main burst reduces to a finite level and remains steady before it decays to the base level, (3) the steady state is present during the rise as well as the decay phase of the main burst.

It is shown that these profiles are not due to random superposition of bursts with varying amplitudes. They are also probably not manifestations of fundamental-harmonic pairs. Some of the observed time profiles can be due to superposition ot bursts caused by ordered electron beams ejected with a constant time delay at the base of the corona.

The observations of intensity reductions or absorption bursts in the solar decametric radio-continuum are reported. The reductions are interpreted as the absorption of continuum radiation by a shock-generated ion-sound turbulence present in the layer above the continuum level. The duration of the absorption is attributed to the lifetime of the ion-sound turbulence while the depth of absorption is determined by the level of Langmuir waves generated as a result of absorption.

The Ulysses Unified Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment (URAP) has observed Langmuir, ion-acoustic and associated solar type III radio emissions in the interplanetary medium. Bursts of 50–300 Hz (in the spacecraft frame) electric field signals, corresponding to long-wavelength ion-acoustic waves are often observed coincident in time with the most intense Langmuir wave spikes, providing evidence for the electrostatic decay instability. Langmuir waves often occur as envelope solitons, suggesting that strong turbulence processes, such as modulational instability and soliton formation, often coexist with weak turbulence processes, such as electrostatic decay, in a few type III burst source regions.