1. Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
Ariel Schabes
November 2016
Remote Sensing in the Atmosphere

2. What is It? Satellite launched on February 11, 2010
On a 5 year mission, studying how the Sun’s magnetic field is generated, structured, and responsible for violent solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CME’s) and other space weather
Placed at an inclined geosynchronous orbit allowing for nearly continuous communication with Earth
High gain antennas rotate once each orbit following Earth’s rotation
This highly specific orbit led to higher costs
Orbit located at the edge of the Earth’s radiation belt
Launch mass 3100kg
Data sent to earth at ~130Mbps (Fios)
2-3 week eclipse period- sporadic signal loss

3. Important Terms
Space Weather- radiation and highly charged particles ejected from the Sun in the form of plasma
Solar Cycle- 11-year cycle, where the amount of sunspots increase and decrease (one full cycle 22 years)
CME- eruption of millions of tons of charged particles from the Sun, moving from km/s, arrives at Earth typically after 2-3 days
Solar flare- bright flash of X-rays seen during an explosion of an active region on the Sun, we can see a bright flash of white light
Sunspot- areas appearing darker on the Sun due to emerging magnetic fields from the Corona (outer layer of the Sun)
447,000mph-4.5 million mph
Greatly detrimental to satellites and any other electrical systems on earth
Can cause city wide blackouts
Quebec March 12,1989- no power for 12 hours
Auroras seen as far south as Florida & Cuba

5. Start at 4:48

6. Instruments HMI (Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager)
AIA (Atmospheric Imaging Assembly)
EVE (Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment)
Combined Functions:
Measures the extreme ultraviolet spectral irradiance of the Sun at a rapid cadence
Measures the Doppler shifts due to oscillation velocities over the entire visible disk
Makes high-resolution measurements of the longitudinal and vector magnetic field over the entire visible disk
Makes images of the chromosphere and inner corona at several temperatures at a rapid cadence
Makes those measurements over a significant portion of a solar cycle to capture the solar variations that may exist in different time periods of a solar cycle

7. HMI (Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager)
Studies oscillations and the magnetic field at the solar surface, or photosphere
Observes the full solar disk at 6173 Å with a resolution of 1 arcsecond
Provides 4 main types of data: dopplergrams (maps of solar surface velocity), continuum filtergrams (broad-wavelength photographs of the solar photosphere), and both line-of-sight and vector magnetograms (maps of the photospheric magnetic field)
Stanford University

8. AIA (Atmospheric Imaging Assembly)
Designed to provide an unprecedented view of the solar corona, data includes images of the Sun in 10 wavelengths every 10 seconds (193, 304, 171, 211 nm)
Will produce data required for quantitative studies of the evolving coronal magnetic field, and the plasma that it holds, both in quiescent phases and during flares and eruptions
171 94
Composite

9. EVE (Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment)
Measures the solar extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance with unprecedented spectral resolution, temporal cadence, and precision
Measures the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral irradiance to understand variations on the timescales which influence Earth's climate and near-Earth space
University of Colorado

10. Carrington Event: September 2, 1859
Massive solar storm slammed into Earth shorting out telegraph systems from the United States to Europe, also ignited widespread fires
Three times more powerful than storm that cut power to Quebec, Canada in 1989
Auroras seen as far south as Cuba and Hawaii (18°W)
Could cause $2 trillion in initial damages (Katrina $80-$125 billion in damage)
4-10 years for recovery
SDO is the key to creating advanced warning
Storm witnessed by British astronomer Richard Carrington
18-36 hours for particles to arrive form sun
Atmosphere was so charged, people were able to communicate with power supplies disconnected
Advanced warning allows for key power grids to switch off in preparation, satellites to be placed in sleep mode to minimize damage
Carrington’s discovery opened the doors to space weather research

12. Questions?
Thank You!!!

13. Sources http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/mission/