A Restrospective and Prospective Examination of NOAA Solar Imaging

Abstract:

NOAA has provided soft X-ray imaging of the lower corona since the early 2000’s. It is currently building the spacecraft and instrumentation to observe the sun in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) through 2036. After more than 6 million calibrated images, it is appropriate to examine NOAA data as providing retrospective context for scientific missions. In particular, this presentation examines the record of GOES Solar X-ray Imager (SXI) observations, including continuity, photometric stability and comparison to other contemporary x-ray imagers. The first GOES Solar X-ray Imager was launched in 2001 and entered operations in 2003. The current SXIs will remain in operations until approximately 2020, when a new series of Solar (extreme-)Ultraviolet Imagers (SUVIs) will replace them as the current satellites reach their end of life. In the sense that the SXIs are similar to Yokoh’s SXT and Hinode’s XRT, the SUVI instruments will be similar to SOHO’s EIT and SDO’s AIA. The move to narrowband EUV imagers will better support eventual operational estimation of plasma conditions. In particular, plans are to leverage advances in automated image processing and segmentation to assist forecasters. While NOAA’s principal use of these observations is real-time space weather forecasting, they will continue to provide a consistent context measurement for researchers for decades to come.