# Presentation: 799318

## Use of Polar Satellite Data at the NOAA Space Environment Center (SEC)Rodney ViereckNOAA Space Environment CenterNational Centers for Environmental PredictionNational Weather Service

**Use of Polar Satellite Data ****at the NOAA Space Environment Center (SEC)****Rodney Viereck***NOAA Space Environment Center**National Centers for Environmental Prediction**National 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**

## Three Types of Space Weather Storms

**Three Types of Space Weather Storms**

**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**

**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**

**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**

## Primary Space Weather Satellites for SEC

**NOAA POES**

**NOAA GOES**

**NASA ACE**

**NASA SOHO**

**L1**

**Primary Space Weather Satellites for SEC**

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

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

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

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

## POES Instrumentation for Space Weather

**POES Instrumentation for Space Weather**

**Auroral Oval**

**NOAA Mg II Core-to-Wing Index**

**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 > 300 KeV
- Ions from 30 KeV to > 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

## POES SEM Observations of Radiation Storms:Solar Proton Test Product for Airlines

- Protons/cm2s ster

**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)**

## Solar Proton Impacts on Aviation 

- 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.

**Proton Impact**
**Zone**

**No**
**Satcom**

## POES SEM Observations of Radiation Storms:Tiger 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.

## 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

## POES SEM Observations of Geomagnetic Storms:Auroral 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

## Impacts of Geomagnetic StormsSouth Africa’s ESKOM Network reports – 5 Stations and 15 Transformers damaged

## Calculating the Mg II Core-to-Wing Ratio

**Calculating the ****Mg II Core-to-Wing Ratio**

**(Allen et al., 1978)**

**SBUV Discrete Grating Steps**

**Wavelength (nm)**

**h (280.27 nm)**

**k (279.56 nm)**

**Relative Intensity**

**SBUV Scan**
** ****Data**

**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**

**(6 + 7 + 8)**
**(1 + 2 + 11 + 12)**

**Mg II = Core/Wings**
**=**

**12    11****                        10          9                      ****8   7  6****               5        4            3                         ****2    1**

**SBUV Solar Spectrum**

## Utility of the Mg II Index:A 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)**

## 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**

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

**GPS**

**UV Remote Sensing**

**DMSP**

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

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

- Global

- Regional

- Local

**Output Scenarios for GAIM**

**Inputs for GAIM**

**POES**

## 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**

## NPOESS Space Weather SensorsRequirements 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**

## Improvements with NPOESS:Latency

**NPOESS Data Latency**
**60 – 130 minutes for POES**
**1 – 30 minutes for NPOESS**

**Latency (minutes)**

## Space Climate SensorTotal 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 < 600 nm****	****0.02%/yr**
**L > 600 nm ****	****0.01%/yr**
**Precision****	****	****0.02 %/yr**
**Accuracy****	****	****1%**

## Impacts of Solar Irradiance

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

**L. Hood, Univ. Arizona**
**SORCE Meeting 2003**

**Secular Trends**

**11 Year Solar Cycle**

**27 Day Solar Rotation**

## Solar Forcing in the NCAR Climate Model

**TSIS observations will provide critical information on natural climate forcing**

**C. Ammann et al.,**
**NCAR Climateand Global Dynamics Div.**
** ****SORCE Meeting  2004**

**Without Solar**

**With Solar**

## 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**