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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2023

Expanding the Deep Space Network to Support the Heliophysics System Observatory

Difficulties associated with receiving telemetry from satellites severely limit the volume of scientific data that can be downlinked to the ground. Current missions employ techniques such as compressing and pruning datasets to reduce the data volume they transmit. While existing mission designs are already restricted by limited telemetry budgets, future Heliophysics System Observatory missions will produce ever larger data volumes with higher resolution and cadence observations from constellations of satellites spread throughout the heliosphere1. In addition, heliophysics missions often produce data for the operational Space Weather community that requires a low latency between observation and downlink. In light of current limitations, the infrastructure to receive NASA satellite telemetry must be expanded and modernized to support the science needs of future data-rich heliophysics missions.

deep space network (DSN)↗
NASA NTRS2022

Ideas on the NASA Senior Review and Mission Extension Process

Extended mission budgets fund a significant part of our community, particularly young scientists who in a relatively short time are exposed to a broad range of experiences and opportunities available in space science and other STEM fields. In particular, mission-funded science offers a relatively stable funding stream that enables meaningful mentoring efforts and interactions, including apprenticeships ranging from project management, to mission operations, to data processing and analysis, to hardware and software development, to STEM-related education and outreach. It moreover provides professional contacts that fuel diversity in mission leadership and in the science and technical workforce at-large. Last but not least, it sustains the scientific productivity of NASA’s missions, which constitute major national investments meriting their full exploitation. Budgets cuts, however, are exercising pressure on the science and operations of the extended mission fleet despite being only a small portion of the overall Division budget. The history of Heliophysics has demonstrated that maintaining the operation of missions beyond their prime phase invariably leads to a much deeper knowledge of the original mission science goals, together with new applications often not foreseen during their original design. Their operation as part of the Heliophysics System Observatory (HSO)---a coordinated, 1eliophysics, multipoint observing system of the heliosphere, is a prime example. Some of the first activities undertaken by the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter missions required recreating the larger context of their new observations by using the diversity of HSO mission capabilities. The marginal cost of maintaining this valuable, working science resource, in the form of both continuing high quality data access and expertise, is small compared to the cost of the original missions or of new missions to achieve similar objectives, making the operation of extended missions, the best “science per dollar” investment in Heliophysics. We argue that reducing both extended mission operations and science budgets will have a ripple effect across the community, including reducing employment and training opportunities for young scientists, to lowering the quality/impact of the Heliophysics Systems Observatory. Instead, we suggest that the proposal process for mission extension should be re-examined. We offer several ideas for reducing costs of extended missions toward maintaining science output and streamlining the management process.

A. Vourlidas↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Hinode-IRIS HOP for Searching for Possible Solar Jet Sources for Switchbacks Observed in the Near-Sun Solar Wind by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP)

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) detects “switchback” magnetic structures in the near-Sun solar wind. A candidate for the source of these is solar coronal jets. Recent studies show that coronal jets are frequently made by eruptions of small-filament-carrying flux ropes, or mini filament flux-rope eruptions, that can inject a magnetic twist wave onto high-reaching ambient magnetic field(Sterling et al. 2015; Moore et al 2015).That is, many coronal jets evidently result from the eruption of a small-scale flux rope of twisted field that holds a mini filament of chromospheric-temperature plasma. The erupting flux rope reconnects with ambient far-reaching field, ejecting both reconnection-heated plasma and cool filament plasma (forming the multi-temperature jet spire), and transferring its twist onto the far-reaching field via a mechanism proposed by Shibata & Uchida(1986).If the far-reaching field opens into the heliosphere, it is plausible that the twist propagates out into the solar wind, possibly appearing as a switchback in the magnetic field in the solar wind (Sterling & Moore 2020).As part of the "Connecting Heliophysics Observatories and Models with PSP" (CHOMP)investigation led by Pete Riley and funded by NASA’s Heliophysics System Observatory Connect (HSOC) Program, we are currently We are currently running a joint Hinode-IRIS HOP, HOP 410, for coordinated observations of the Sun during times of PSP perihelia. An output from this study is a series of soft X-ray movies from Hinode/XRT. If PSP sees a strong switchback during any of its front-side or partly-front-side perihelia, we will examine the corresponding XRT movies to see whether exceptional jet activity occurred at the expected time and location of the potential source of the switchback on the Sun. This work is supported by the NASA HSOC and HGI programs, and by the MSFC Hinode project.

Alphonse C Sterling↗
NASA NTRS2021

A Quarter Century of Wind Spacecraft Discoveries

The Wind spacecraft, launched on November 1, 1994, is a critical element in NASA’s Heliophysics System Observatory (HSO)—a fleet of spacecraft created to understand the dynamics of the Sun-Earth system. The combination of its longevity (>25 years in service), its diverse complement of instrumentation, and high resolution and accurate measurements has led to it becoming the “standard candle” of solar wind measurements. Wind has over 55 selectable public data products with over ∼1,100 total data variables (including OMNI data products) on SPDF/CDAWeb alone. These data have led to paradigm shifting results in studies of statistical solar wind trends, magnetic reconnection, large-scale solar wind structures, kinetic physics, electromagnetic turbulence, the Van Allen radiation belts, coronal mass ejection topology, interplanetary and interstellar dust, the lunar wake, solar radio bursts, solar energetic particles, and extreme astrophysical phenomena such as gamma-ray bursts. This review introduces the mission and instrument suites then discusses examples of the contributions by Wind to these scientific topics that emphasize its importance to both the fields of heliophysics and astrophysics.

Lynn B. Wilson III↗
DOE OSTI2026

Energy Evolution from the Chromosphere to the Heliosphere in the 2021 October 28 Solar Eruption

We perform a detailed study of the energetics for a well-observed solar eruption and flare that occurred on 2021 October 28. This event included a GOES class X1.0 flare, a global extreme-UV (EUV) wave, and a coronal mass ejection (CME) that reached speeds of >2000 km s −1 . The event was observed from a variety of spacecraft in NASA’s Heliophysics System Observatory, including multiple missions near Earth, STEREO-A off the Sun-Earth line, and Solar Orbiter, near the Sun-Earth line at about 0.8 au. Using remote sensing, in situ observations, and in some cases scaling laws based on previous observations, we characterize the following quantities: free magnetic energy, energy in nonthermal electrons, energy in nonthermal ions, bolometric energy, energy deposited in the chromosphere, thermal energy radiated in the flare loops, energy dissipated by the EUV wave, CME kinetic and gravitational potential energy, CME energy flux in the heliosphere, and the energy partition in the CME shock. We find that the total energy released during the event is consistent with estimates of the pre-event stored magnetic energy, and the CME kinetic + potential energy dominates the energy partition.

solar coronal mass ejection shocks↗
NASA NTRS2023

The Case for Solar Full-disk Spectral Diagnostics: Chromosphere to Corona

In the context of the recent call for white papers for the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024–2033, we present the argument that spatially-resolved spectral diagnostics over the full solar disk should be made a high-priority goal in Heliophysics and lead to the development of a mission concept that has the potential to become a cornerstone of the Heliophysics System Observatory (HSO). We claim that a mission providing consistent full-disk sampling of plasma properties (Doppler-shifts, non-thermal velocities, electron densities, elemental composition, etc.) of the chromosphere-corona system at the dynamic timescales of solar eruptive phenomena will revolutionize the field by adding the spectral diagnostics capability to the highly successful concept of full-disk imaging, everywhere, all the time, represented by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). We argue for it to be developed by the end of the current Decadal Survey cycle around the lessons learned from spectroscopic missions in the current NASA development pipeline, that include innovative strategies for faster integration of large fields-of-view, and comprehensive temperature coverage.

Sun↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Global Magnetic Reconnection with Weakly Shocked Solar Wind During Geomagnetic Storms

The solar wind and magnetic field emanating from the sun typically reaches Earth moving at a super-Alfvénic velocity (multiple times the local Alfvén wave speed). This leads to the formation of a bow shock upstream of the planet where the plasma is slowed and heated and the interplanetary magnetic field is compressed before it interacts with Earth's magnetic field. However, a number of recent geomagnetic storm events have been associated with sustained intervals of nearly or indeed fully sub-Alfvénic flows. A weakly- or un-shocked magnetosheath changes the conditions for magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause and subsequently the storm-time evolution of the magnetosphere. We perform Multiscale Atmosphere-Geospace Environment (MAGE) simulations of three different geomagnetic storms each containing a period of nearly or fully sub-Alfvénic solar wind driving and examine the properties of global reconnection. The structure of the night-side magnetosphere and polar cusps are also examined. The dynamical evolution of the global magnetosphere during strong driving represents a key science target for the NASA Heliophysics System Observatory, particularly Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) targeting magnetotail/magnetopause reconnection and Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS) observing ion dispersion in the cusps.

Brandon Burkholder↗
NASA NTRS2010

SPASE, Metadata, and the Heliophysics Virtual Observatories

To provide data search and access capability in the field of Heliophysics (the study of the Sun and its effects on the Solar System, especially the Earth) a number of Virtual Observatories (VO) have been established both via direct funding from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and through other funding agencies in the U.S. and worldwide. At least 15 systems can be labeled as Virtual Observatories in the Heliophysics community, 9 of them funded by NASA. The problem is that different metadata and data search approaches are used by these VO's and a search for data relevant to a particular research question can involve consulting with multiple VO's - needing to learn a different approach for finding and acquiring data for each. The Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) project is intended to provide a common data model for Heliophysics data and therefore a common set of metadata for searches of the VO's. The SPASE Data Model has been developed through the common efforts of the Heliophysics Data and Model Consortium (HDMC) representatives over a number of years. We currently have released Version 2.1 of the Data Model. The advantages and disadvantages of the Data Model will be discussed along with the plans for the future. Recent changes requested by new members of the SPASE community indicate some of the directions for further development.

Thieman, James↗
NASA NTRS2005

Heliophysics: The New Science of the Sun-Solar System Connection. Recommended Roadmap for Science and Technology 2005-2035

This is a Roadmap to understanding the environment of our Earth, from its life-sustaining Sun out past the frontiers of the solar system. A collection of spacecraft now patrols this space, revealing not a placid star and isolated planets, but an immense, dynamic, interconnected system within which our home planet is embedded and through which space explorers must journey. These spacecraft already form a great observatory with which the Heliophysics program can study the Sun, the heliosphere, the Earth, and other planetary environments as elements of a system--one that contains dynamic space weather and evolves in response to solar, planetary, and interstellar variability. NASA continually evolves the Heliophysics Great Observatory by adding new missions and instruments in order to answer the challenging questions confronting us now and in the future as humans explore the solar system. The three heliophysics science objectives: opening the frontier to space environment prediction; understanding the nature of our home in space, and safeguarding the journey of exploration, require sustained research programs that depend on combining new data, theory, analysis, simulation, and modeling. Our program pursues a deeper understanding of the fundamental physical processes that underlie the exotic phenomena of space.

Heliophysics↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Heliophysics Data Environment, Virtual Observatories, NSSDC, and SPASE

Heliophysics (the study of the Sun and its effects on the Solar System, especially the Earth) has an interesting data environment in that the data are often to be found in relatively small data sets widely scattered in archives around the world. Within the last decade there have been more concentrated efforts to organize the data access methods and create a Heliophysics Data and Model Consortium (HDMC). To provide data search and access capability a number of Virtual Observatories (VO's) have been established both via funding from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and through other funding agencies in the U.S. and worldwide. At least 15 systems can be labeled as Heliophysics Virtual Observatories, 9 of them funded by NASA. Other parts of this data environment include Resident Archives, and the final, or "deep" archive at the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC). The problem is that different data search and access approaches are used by all of these elements of the HDMC and a search for data relevant to a particular research question can involve consulting with multiple VO's - needing to learn a different approach for finding and acquiring data for each. The Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) project is intended to provide a common data model for Heliophysics data and therefore a common set of metadata for searches of the VO's and other data environment elements. The SPASE Data Model has been developed through the common efforts of the HDMC representatives over a number of years. We currently have released Version 2.1. of the Data Model. The advantages and disadvantages of the Data Model will be discussed along with the plans for the future. Recent changes requested by new members of the SPASE community indicate some of the directions for further development.

Thieman, James↗
NASA NTRS2009

GSFC Heliophysics Science Division 2008 Science Highlights

This report is intended to record and communicate to our colleagues, stakeholders, and the public at large about heliophysics scientific and flight program achievements and milestones for 2008, for which NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) made important contributions. HSD comprises approximately 261 scientists, technologists, and administrative personnel dedicated to the goal of advancing our knowledge and understanding of the Sun and the wide variety of domains that its variability influences. Our activities include Lead science investigations involving flight hardware, theory, and data analysis and modeling that will answer the strategic questions posed in the Heliophysics Roadmap; Lead the development of new solar and space physics mission concepts and support their implementation as Project Scientists; Provide access to measurements from the Heliophysics Great Observatory through our Science Information Systems, and Communicate science results to the public and inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers.

Gilbert, Holly R.↗
NASA NTRS2009

GSFC Heliophysics Science Division 2009 Science Highlights

This report is intended to record and communicate to our colleagues, stakeholders, and the public at large about heliophysics scientific and flight program achievements and milestones for 2009, for which NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) made important contributions. HSD comprises approximately 299 scientists, technologists, and administrative personnel dedicated to the goal of advancing our knowledge and understanding of the Sun and the wide variety of domains that its variability influences. Our activities include: Leading science investigations involving flight hardware, theory, and data analysis and modeling that will answer the strategic questions posed in the Heliophysics Roadmap; Leading the development of new solar and space physics mission concepts and support their implementation as Project Scientists; Providing access to measurements from the Heliophysics Great Observatory through our Science Information Systems; and Communicating science results to the public and inspiring the next generation of scientists and explorers.

Strong, Keith T.↗
NASA NTRS2010

GSFC Heliophysics Science Division FY2010 Annual Report

This report is intended to record and communicate to our colleagues, stakeholders, and the public at large about heliophysics scientific and flight program achievements and milestones for 2010, for which NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Heliophysics Science Division (HSD) made important contributions. HSD comprises approximately 323 scientists, technologists, and administrative personnel dedicated to the goal of advancing our knowledge and understanding of the Sun and the wide variety of domains that its variability influences. Our activities include: Leading science investigations involving flight hardware, theory, and data analysis and modeling that will answer the strategic questions posed in the Heliophysics Roadmap; Leading the development of new solar and space physics mission concepts and support their implementation as Project Scientists; Providing access to measurements from the Heliophysics Great Observatory through our Science Information Systems; and Communicating science results to the public and inspiring the next generation of scientists and explorers.

Gilbert, Holly R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Virtual Energetic Particle Observatory (VEPO)

The Virtual Energetic Particle Observatory (VEPO) focuses on improved discovery, access, and usability of heliospheric energetic particle and ancillary data products from selected spacecraft and sub-orbital instruments of the heliophysics data environment. The energy range of interest extends over the full range of particle acceleration from keV energies of suprathermal seed particles to GeV energies of galactic cosmic ray particles. Present spatial coverage is for operational and legacy spacecraft operating from the inner to the outer heliosphere, e.g. from measurements by the two Helios spacecraft to 0.3 AU to the inner heliosheath region now being traversed by the two Voyager spacecraft. This coverage will eventually be extended inward to ten solar radii by the planned NASA solar probe mission and at the same time beyond the heliopause into the outer heliosheath by continued Voyager operations. The geospace fleet of spacecraft providing near-Earth interplanetary measurements, selected magnetospheric spacecraft providing direct measurements of penetrating interplanetary energetic particles, and interplanetary cruise measurements from planetary spacecraft missions further extend VEPO resources to the domain of geospace and planetary interactions. Ground-based (e.g., neutron monitor) and high-altitude suborbital measurements can expand coverage to the highest energies of galactic cosmic rays affected by heliospheric interaction and of solar energetic particles. Science applications include investigation of solar flare and coronal mass ejection events. acceleration and transport of interplanetary particles within the inner heliosphere, cosmic ray interactions with planetary surfaces and atmospheres, sources of suprathermal and anomalous cosmic ray ions in the outer heliosphere, and solar cycle modulation of galactic cosmic rays. Robotic and human exploration, and eventual habitation, of planetary and space environments beyond the Earth require knowledge of radiation hazards informed by VEPO data resources. The VEPO project has completed the first year of work to define science requirements, to document and register selected data products in SPASE format while evolving SPASE for increased applicability to VEPO data, and to support enhanced discovery and access for these products through the evolving data query and middleware system of the Virtual Heliospheric Observatory (VHO). The VEPO team operates as a heliophysics focus group for energetic particle data resources in partnership with VHO and also leverages existing data services of NASA's Space Physics Data Facility. We invite comments from the U.S. and international data provider and user communities on review of the current VEPO/VHO user interface, on directions for future evolution of VEPO and supporting data systems including VHO and SPDF, and on relations to other elements of the heliophysics virtual observatory environment.

Cooper, John F.↗
NASA NTRS2011

HELIO: The Heliophysics Integrated Observatory

Heliophysics is a new research field that explores the Sun-Solar System Connection; it requires the joint exploitation of solar, heliospheric, magnetospheric and ionospheric observations. HELIO, the Heliophysics Integrated Observatory, will facilitate this study by creating an integrated e-Infrastructure that has no equivalent anywhere else. It will be a key component of a worldwide effort to integrate heliophysics data and will coordinate closely with international organizations to exploit synergies with complementary domains. HELIO was proposed under a Research Infrastructure call in the Capacities Programme of the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme (FP7). The project was selected for negotiation in January 2009; following a successful conclusion to these, the project started on 1 June 2009 and will last for 36 months.

Bentley, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Hinode: A Decade of Success in Capturing Solar Activity

As the present solar cycle passes into its minimum phase, the Hinode mission marks its tenth year of investigating solar activity. Hinode's decade of successful observations have provided us with immeasurable insight into the solar processes that invoke space weather and thereby affect the interplanetary environment in which we reside. The mission's complementary suite of instruments allows us to probe transient, high energy events alongside long-term, cycle-dependent phenomena from magnetic fields at the Sun's surface out to highly thermalized coronal plasma enveloping active regions (ARs). These rich data sets have already changed the face of solar physics and will continue to provoke exciting research as new observational paradigms are pursued. Hinode was launched as part of the Science Mission Directorate's (SMD) Solar Terrestrial Probes Program in 2006. It is a sophisticated spacecraft equipped with a Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), an Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS), and an X-Ray Telescope (XRT) (see x 4). With high resolution and sensitivity, Hinode serves as a microscope for the Sun, providing us with unique capabilities for observing magnetic fields near the smallest scales achievable, while also rendering full-Sun coronal context in the highest thermal regimes. The 2014 NASA SMD strategic goals objective to "Understand the Sun and its interactions with the Earth and the solar system, including space weather" forms the basis of three underlying Heliophysics Science Goals. While Hinode relates to all three, the observatory primarily addresses: Explore the physical processes in the space environment from the Sun to the Earth and through the solar system. Within the NASA National Research Council (NRC) Decadal Survey Priorities, Hinode targets: (a) Determine the origins of the Sun's activity and predict the variations of the space environment and (d) Discover and characterize fundamental processes that occur both within the heliosphere and throughout the universe. In response to the 2012 NRC Decadal Survey Science Challenges and 2014 Heliophysics Roadmap Research Focus Areas, the Hinode mission has set forth four Prioritized Science Goals (PSGs): (a) Study the sources and evolution of highly energetic dynamic events; (b) Characterize cross-scale magnetic field topology and stability; (c) Trace mass and energy flow from the photosphere to the corona; and (d) Continue long term synoptic support to quantify cycle variability.

review↗
NASA NTRS2006

The Virtual Solar Observatory and the Heliophysics Meta-Virtual Observatory

The Virtual Solar Observatory (VSO) has survived its infancy and provides metadata search and data identification for measurements from 45 instrument data sets held at 12 online archives, as well as flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) event lists. Like any toddler, the VSO is good at getting into anything and everything, and is now extending its grasp to more data sets, new missions, and new access methods using its application programming interface (API). We discuss and demonstrate recent changes, including developments for STEREO and SDO, and an IDL-callable interface for the VSO API. We urge the heliophysics community to help civilize this obstreperous youngster by providing input on ways to make the VSO even more useful for system science research in its role as part of the growing cluster of Heliophysics Virtual Observatories.

Gurman, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Space Weathering Investigations Enabled by NASA's Virtual Heliophysical Observatories

Structural and chemical impact of the heliospheric space environment on exposed planetary surfaces and interplanetary dust grains may be generally defined as space weathering . In the inner solar system, from the asteroid belt inwards towards the Sun, the surface regolith structures of airless bodies are primarily determined by cumulative meteoritic impacts over billions of years, but the molecular composition to meters in depth can be substantially modified by irradiation effects. Plasma ions at eV to keV energies may both erode uppermost surfaces by sputtering, and implant or locally produce exogenic material, e.g. He-3 and H2O, while more energetic ions drive molecular change through electronic ionization. Galactic cosmic ray ions and more energetic solar ions can impact chemistry to meters in depth. High energy cosmic ray interactions produce showers of secondary particles and energetic photons that present hazards for robotic and human exploration missions but also enable detection of potentially useable resources such as water ice, oxygen, and many other elements. Surface sputtering also makes ejected elemental and molecular species accessible for in-situ compositional analysis by spacecraft with ion and neutral mass spectrometers. Modeling of relative impacts for these various space weathering processes requires knowledge of the incident species-resolved ion flux spectra at plasma to cosmic ray energies and as integrated over varying time scales. Although the main drivers for investigations of these processes come from NASA's planetary science and human exploration programs, the NASA heliophysics program provides the requisite data measurement and modeling resources to enable specification of the field & plasma and energetic particle irradiation environments for application to space weather and surface weathering investigations. The Virtual Heliospheric Observatory (VHO), Virtual Energetic Particle Observatory (VEPO), Lunar Solar Origins Exploration (LunaSOX), and Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) services now provide a wide range of inner heliospheric spacecraft data that can be applied to space weathering of potential exploration destinations including the Moon, asteroids, and the moons of Mars, as well to radiation hazard assessment for the spacecraft and human explorers. For example, the new VEPO service for time-averaging of multi-source ion flux spectra enables the specification of composite flux spectra from a variety of ongoing and legacy missions for applications to surface interaction modeling. Apollo to Artemis data resources of LunaSOX enable specific space weathering investigations for the Moon, while VHO more generally covers the space field and plasma environments of the inner and outer solar system from the sunward-most perihelia of the twin Helios spacecraft to the ongoing heliosheath passages of the twin Voyagers. Composite multi-source spectra from VEPO can also be applied to the continuing compilation of accumulated 1-AU fluence spectra, mostly contributed by solar wind plasma and energetic particle events, for determination of time-averaged particle compositional and kinetic energy output from the Sun and for modeling of long-term irradiation impacts on planetary surfaces.

Cooper, John F.↗