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Irradiance Observations from the UARS/SOLSTICE Experiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Gary J. Rottman ,
Thomas N. Woods ,
Oran R. White  and
Julius London
Gary J. Rottman
Affiliation:
High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, USA
Thomas N. Woods
Affiliation:
High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, USA
Oran R. White
Affiliation:
High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, USA
Julius London
Affiliation:
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA

Abstract

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The Solar/Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) is one of the two ultraviolet spectrometers on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) measuring the full disk solar irradiance. This spectrometer covers the spectral range of 119 to 421 nm and typically makes ten full spectral scans per day. The instrument was designed to monitor changes in the solar radiation with a relative accuracy of better than 1%. To achieve this goal the spectrometer makes repeated observations of a number of bright blue stars; stars that individually should vary by only small fractions of a percent over time periods of thousands of years. The calibration stars are observed with the same optics and detectors used for the solar observations and any drift in the instrument response is directly determined by changes in the ensemble average flux from these calibration stars. The instrument performance and calibration are described and solar data from the first year of the UARS mission are presented. These UARS data show significant solar activity during late 1991 and early 1992 and then clearly mark a decrease as we move off the maximum of solar cycle 22. We are optimistic that an extended UARS mission, perhaps as long as ten years, is now possible.

Type
Observational Programs for Solar and Stellar Irradiance Variability
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 143: The Sun as a Variable Star: Solar and Stellar Irradiance Variations , 1994 , pp. 73 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1994

References

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