Use of Polar Satellite Data at the NOAA Space Environment Center SEC Rodney Viereck NOAA Space Envir

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Use of Polar Satellite Data at the NOAA Space
Environment Center (SEC)Rodney ViereckNOAA
Space Environment CenterNational Centers for
Environmental PredictionNational Weather Service

• NOAA POES
• SEM
• SBUV
• METOP
• SEM
• GOME
• DMSP
• SSULI
• SSUSI
• NPOESS
• LEPS, MEPS, HEPS
• TPS
• Aurora
• OMPS
• TSIS

Photo Aurora over Boulder Flatirons by Stan
Solomon/NCAR HAO
Polar Max Silver Spring
Rodney Viereck, NOAA Space Environment Center
October 2005
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Three Types of Space Weather Storms

• Geomagnetic Storms
• Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)
  send out Magnetic Clouds
• Arrive at Earth in 1-4 days
• Accelerate particles within the magnetosphere and
  into the ionosphere
• Impacts
• HF radio communication
• Radio Navigation (GPS)
• Electric Power Grids
• Increased Satellite Drag
• Aurora

• Radiation Storms
• Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)
  send out Energetic Particles
• Arrive at Earth in 30 minutes to 24 hours
• Modify the high latitude ionosphere
• Disrupt HF radio communication
• Impacts
• Airline communication
• HF radio operators
• DoD Communications
• Ionizing radiation penetrates into the atmosphere
• Impacts
• Astronauts (radiation)
• Aircraft crew (radiation)
• Satellite failures

• Radio Blackouts
• Solar Flares send out x-rays
• Arrive at Earth in 8 minutes
• Modify the ionosphere
• Disrupt HF radio communication
• Impacts
• Airline communication
• HF radio operators
• DoD Communications
• Satellite Communications

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Primary Space Weather Satellites for SEC

• SOHO
• Solar EUV Images
• Solar Corona (CMEs)

• GOES
• Energetic Particles
• Magnetic Field
• Solar X-ray Flux
• Solar X-Ray Images

NASA SOHO
L1

• ACE
• Solar wind composition, speed, and direction
• Magnetic field strength and direction

NOAA GOES
NASA ACE
NOAA POES

• POES
• High Energy Particles
• Total Energy Deposition
• Solar UV Flux

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POES Instrumentation for Space Weather

• Space Environment Monitor (SEM)
• Total Energy Detector (TED)
• 300 eV to 20 KeV particles
• Total energy deposition into atmosphere
• Physical Measure of aurora/geomagnetic activity
  (intensity, location, extent)
• Medium Energy Proton And Electron Detector
  (MEPED)
• Electrons from 30 KeV to gt 300 KeV
• Ions from 30 KeV to gt 100 MeV
• Physical Measure of solar particle events
  (intensity, location, extent)
• Solar Backscattered Ultraviolet (SBUV 2)
• Solar Irradiance Observations
• Monitors solar irradiance from 140 nm to 340 nm
• Mg II core-to-wing ratio one of the longest
  running records of solar variability

Auroral Oval
NOAA Mg II Core-to-Wing Index
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POES SEM Observations of Radiation StormsSolar
Proton Test Product for Airlines

• Provides location and spatial extent of solar
  proton influx and degraded HF radio propagation
• Uses 3-6 hours of NOAA POES satellite data
• Developed for commercial aviation industry
• Critical to high latitude airline traffic (polar
  routes)

Protons/cm2s ster
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Solar Proton Impacts on Aviation
Proton Impact Zone
No Satcom

• Commercial polar flights departing from North
  America
• Not allowed to fly without radio contact with
  ground.
• During proton events, commercial flights must
  take alternate (longer) paths
• Reduce weight (passengers)
• Stop for fuel
• Additional risk of radiation for crew and
  passengers
• Note SATCOM is considered a backup during polar
  flights, but it is rarely available above 82
  degrees north latitude.

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POES SEM Observations of Radiation StormsTiger
Plot Product for NASA

• Shuttle and Space Station crew safety
• Designed by NASA Space Radiation Group at Johnson
  Spaceflight Center
• Colors indicate departure from their 1-year
  median values
• Provides an indication of environmental stress.
• The more red, the greater the radiation levels
  for astronauts.

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Energetic Particle Impacts on International
Space Station

• Oct 2003 - Solar flare activity caused flight
  controllers to
• Directed ISS Expedition 8 crew to relocate to the
  aft portion of the station's Zvezda Service
  Module and the Temporary Sleep Station (TeSS) in
  the U.S. Lab. due to higher levels of radiation
• Ground-commanded power-down of the 1B robotic
  arm and workstation

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POES SEM Observations of Geomagnetic
StormsAuroral Activity Web Product

• Designed to provide a global picture of the
  extent and intensity of auroral activity
• All satellites are processed as data arrives
• Presently using 4 POES Satellites
• Average latency is 90 to 120 minutes
• One of the most popular web products for SEC
• Movie and overview and education pages provided
  
• Averages 5 million file transfers per month
• Transfers go up x10 on active days
• 10,000 unique users daily
• 30-40 of all SEC web customers request POES data

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Impacts of Geomagnetic StormsSouth Africas
ESKOM Network reports 5 Stations and 15
Transformers damaged
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Calculating the Mg II Core-to-Wing Ratio

SBUV Solar Spectrum
The h and k Mg II emission lines are highly
variable while the nearby solar spectrum is more
stable Even though the SBUV does not resolve the
lines, the bottom of the spectral feature is
still more variable than the wings The SBUV Mg
II ratio is the ratio of the sum of the core
values to the wing values An excellent proxy for
solar chromospheric activity
12 11 10 9
8 7 6 5
4 3 2 1
SBUV Discrete Grating Steps
Mg II Core/Wings
Relative Intensity
(6 7 8) (1 2 11 12)
SBUV Scan Data
k (279.56 nm)
h (280.27 nm)
(Allen et al., 1978)
Wavelength (nm)
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Utility of the Mg II IndexA proxy for the solar
chromosphere

• Proxy for Solar UV (Stratospheric and Ozone
  Studies)
• Proxy for Solar EUV (Satellite Drag and
  Ionospheric Products)
• Proxy for Total Solar Irradiance (Climate Studies)

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METOP

• Space Environment Monitor
• Identical to POES SEM
• Products will accept METOP SEM data without
  modification
• GOME
• Mg II core-to-wing product is produced in a
  method very similar to SBUV
• Product should accept METOP GOME data with
  minimal modification

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DMSP Input for the Global Assimilation of
Ionospheric Measurements (GAIM) Model
Inputs for GAIM

• Inputs
• Extensive real-time inputs from space and
  ground-based platforms
• Physics-based models,
• Output 3-D specification and forecast of the
  Ionosphere

GPS
UV Remote Sensing
DMSP
POES
Output Scenarios for GAIM
Global
Regional
Local
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NPOESS Space Weather Sensors

• Combines the sensors and capabilities of NOAA
  POES and DOD DMSP Satellites
• POES DMSP NPOESS
• TED SSJ LEPS (Low Energy Particle Sensor)
• MEPED MEPS (Medium Engy. Part. Sensor)
• MEPED HEPS (High Energy Part. Sens)
• SSIES TPS (Thermal Plasma Sensor)
• SSUSI Aurora (UV Disk Sensor)
• SSULI Aurora (UV Disk Sensor)
• SBUV OMPS (Ozone Map. and Profile Suite)
• Magnetic field requirements will be met by ESA
  SWARM mission

Ozone/Solar UV Earth Obs.
Particles/Fields
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NPOESS Space Weather SensorsRequirements
Satisfaction

• After a major analysis of requirements and sensor
  capabilities
• Fewer sensors on more orbit planes
• Maximize utility from POES, DMSP, METOP
• Some sensors and EDRs removed from NPOESS

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Improvements with NPOESSLatency

• NPOESS Data Latency
• 60 130 minutes for POES
• 1 30 minutes for NPOESS

Latency (minutes)
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Space Climate SensorTotal solar and Spectral
Irradiance Sensor (TSIS)

• TIM (Total Irradiance Monitor)
• Measures total energy
• Long Term Stability 0.002 /yr
• Precision 0.002 /yr
• Accuracy 1.5 W/m2 (0.1 )

• SIM (Spectral Irradiance Monitor)
• Spectral Range 200 3000 nm
• Long Term Stability
• L lt 600 nm 0.02/yr
• L gt 600 nm 0.01/yr
• Precision 0.02 /yr
• Accuracy 1

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Impacts of Solar Irradiance
Secular Trends
11 Year Solar Cycle

• Correlations between sun and climate
• .
• .
• .
• Across All Time Scales

27 Day Solar Rotation
L. Hood, Univ. Arizona SORCE Meeting 2003
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Solar Forcing in the NCAR Climate Model
Without Solar

• TSIS observations will provide critical
  information on natural climate forcing

With Solar
C. Ammann et al., NCAR Climateand Global Dynamics
Div. SORCE Meeting 2004
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Summary

• Polar Satellite Data Is a Critical Component of
  Space Weather Services and Operations
• Critical information for
• Airline Industry
• Manned Space Program
• Satellite Anomaly Assessment
• Satellite drag
• Stratosphere and climate
• Strong public demand for POES space weather
  products
• NPOESS
• Continues the critical set of space weather
  observations
• Improves products and services by reducing
  latency
• Adds solar irradiance sensor critical for climate
  monitoring