Kein Folientitel

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Space Weather Science and the KuaFu project
Rainer Schwenn Max-Planck-Institut für
Sonnensystemforschung, Lindau, Germany Schwenn_at_mps
.mpg.de
Despite the enormous progress in recent years,
there is still a lack in understanding of several
key links in the long chain of actions and
reactions that connects our Earth to its parent
star, the Sun. They concern 1) the origin of
disturbances at the Sun (flares and CMEs) and our
inability to forecast them, 2) the propagation of
their effects to the Earth, 3) their capability
of entering the Earth system, and 4) the
magnitude of the terrestrial effects. I will
review these processes and point out where the
KuaFu mission is supposed to achieve better
understanding, in context with the International
Living With a Star (ILWS) program.

KuaFu status presented to the ILWS in Uppsala,
12.June 2007
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105 attendees, more than 80 presentations
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The missing links in the Sun-Earth chain

• Photospheric reponse to vortex flows in the
  convection zone in terms of build-up of magnetic
  stresses and helicity potential
  warning signs hidden!
• The role of reconnection driver, trigger, or
  sequel
• Flare/CME type and SEP acceleration
• Transformation of CMEs into ICMEs
• Propagation of ICMEs through the ambient solar
  wind
• Relation of shock/sheath/cloud topology with
  eruptive filament
• Relation of geomagnetic response with upstream
  parameters

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What is needed in space weather science?

• To understand the complete chain of
  actions/reactions from the solar atmosphere to
  geo-space, we must study
• Sources of eruptions
• Warning signs for flares, CMEs, SEPs
• Propagation of disturbances
• Interplanetary clouds, radio waves, shock
  waves, SEPs
• Geo-effectiveness
• Aurora activities, sub-storms, magnetic storms,
• Effects at and near the Earth
• Satellite protection, GICs, radiation doses,
  bioeffects,
• Realistic (running!) computer models
• The complete Sun-heliosphere-Earth system.

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• Present situation for space weather missions
• SOHO at L1 (EIT, LASCO, MDI, CELIAS, ERNE, et
  al.), in orbit since 1995, nominal life time
  exceeded but still operational, funding safe
  until 2008, LASCO maybe longer.
  
  
• But No magnetometer on board
• ACE at L1 (MAG, SWEPAM, et al.), in orbit since
  1997, nominal life time exceeded but still
  operational, funding safe until ???
• But No optical instruments, no radio wave
  instrument..
• WIND near L1 (Waves, SWE, EPACT etc), in orbit
  since 1994, nominal life time exceeded but still
  operational, about to be shut off.
• But No optical instruments
• TRACE (UV/EUV high resolution disk imager) in
  Earth orbit since 1998, nominal life time
  exceeded, still operational, about to be shut
  off.
• But No in situ instruments, no coronagraph

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• Future space weather missions
• STEREO AB (PLASTIC, IMPACT, SECCHI, SWAVES), in
  Earth-like orbits, launched in 2006, life time
  probably not more than 3 years
• But will lose context with Earth after 3 years.
• Hinode (EUV imaging spectrometer, X-ray
  telescope), in Earth orbit, launched in 2006,
• But no in-situ instruments, no coronagraph
• Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), in Earth orbit,
  to be launched in 2008, life time more than 4
  years
• But no in-situ instruments, no coronagraph
• Solar Orbiter, in near-Sun execliptic orbit,
  launch 2015 (?)
• But not much context with Earth
• Sentinels 2013 ??
• Solar Probe ???

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• Present situation in space weather science
• SOHO and ACE are in excellent status right now.
  They may live much longer, but they might as well
  die every day in their extended mission.
• Wind is about to be terminated.
• STEREO AB will lose context with Earth after 3
  years.
• That means
• No in-situ data on space weather will be
  available when both, SOHO and ACE, will be
  finished. The 2 STEREO S/C will be out of range
  after about 2009, anyway.
• That means further
• Within a few years from now, we might again be
  completely blind with respect to space weather!
• Therefore
• KuaFu is badly needed!

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• Sixth KuaFu Science Committee (KSC) Meeting
• Jan 18th, 2007 and Jan 19th, 2007
• ShanHaiTian Hotel, Sanya, China

The attending KSC members all agreed that KSC
should finalize the model payload and will
consider no more new instrument proposals before
the AO process. The model payload of KuaFu-A
keeps the payload decided by the third KSC
meeting on July 18th, 2006. The model payload of
KuaFu-B is based principally also on the decision
of the third KSC meeting, plus a newly added
plasmasphere EUV imager and a search coil wave
instrument.
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The first International Coordinating Meeting on
the KuaFu Mission

• January 15, 2007, Sanya, China
• Chair Mr. Keran Wang (CNSA)
• Attendees
• Hermann Opgenoorth ( ESA)
• William Liu (CSA)
• and other 16 representatives from related
  agencies
• Endorse the formation of the coordinating group
• with membership from CNSA (Chair), ESA and CSA

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KuaFu SRD (Chinese v.) approved

• The report (in Chinese) of the scientific goals
  and observations of KuaFu mission has been
  approved by a very high level review meeting
  supervised by CNSA on Jun 1st, 2007.
• The review report gives the KuaFu mission a high
  evaluation and suggests a launch time around
  2012.
• This just means a green light from the Chinese
  space science community, and it will certainly
  have influence on CNSA.

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Schedule for SRD, PDD and SMP

• KuaFu is now a background project of CNSA.
• The comprehensive review including SRD and PDD
  will be finished in August 2007.

Hopefully in September 2007 CNSA and ESA,
together with CSA and other national funding
agencies, can collaborate on the formulation of
a Science Management Plan (SMP), which should
define each agencys responsibilities, and
describe how to execute science operation and
science data handling for the mission.