Sivakumara K. Tadikonda | Engineering Papers

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Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) Accommodation on GOES-U

The CCOR-1 will monitor our Sun’s Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). It will reside on the Sun-Pointing Platform (SPP) of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) -U in a geostationary orbit. As a member of the GOES-R Series of satellites, GOES-U will pro-vide advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s weather, oceans and envi-ronment, real-time mapping of total lightning activity, and as well as monitoring of solar ac-tivity and space weather. GOES-U is the final satellite in the GOES-R Series, with an expected launch date in April of 2024. The Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) instrument was designed, built, and tested by the Unit-ed States Naval Research Laboratory. CCOR-1, the first in a series of coronagraphs, is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is managed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and will ultimately be operated by NOAA. Us-ing a series of images of the Sun’s coronal white-light, scientists at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) can de-termine the size, velocity, and density of these CMEs. This information can then be used to assess and prepare for potential impacts of these solar storms on infrastructure here on Earth, as well as assets in space. CCOR-1 has completed instrument-level Integration and Testing (I&T), delivered to the GOES-U satellite vendor and is now mechanically integrated with the spacecraft. The GOES-U satellite has completed spacecraft-level integration and test activities. This poster presents the details on the CCOR-1 instrument, its integration onto the GOES-U satellite bus, ground system, and operations, as well as the expected performance.

White Light Coronagraph↗

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From the Solar Limb and Out: Results from the Wide-Field EUV Image Campaigns with GOES/SUVI

Traditional approaches to tracking solar outflows for space weather forecasting rely primarily on coronagraph images, which generally observe the solar corona above a minimum height of about 2.5 solar radii. EUV images have been widely used to characterize features on the solar disk, but the limited fields of view of most current EUV imagers have prevented their use for tracking outflows through the inner and middle coronae. A series of off-point campaigns with the GOES 16-18 Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) between 2018 and 2022 from three Flight Models have provided an opportunity to assess the value of extended EUV images for space weather forecasting applications. These new results demonstrate that wide field-of-view EUV images are useful for characterizing the early onset of eruptive events and tracking smaller outflow into the solar wind. They also reveal the origins of shocks that are known to accelerate particles and drive solar energetic particle (SEP) events. Because CMEs generally experience the bulk of their acceleration below the height of white light coronagraphic observations, these images provide information about the origins of these events that has not been available traditionally. Together with coronagraphic measurements, EUV images provide the continuous views needed to connect CMEs back to their source regions. Here, we present these new SUVI observations and discuss their potential use in space weather operations.

SUVI↗