Sophisticated ESA space weather tool under development (Forwarded)

ESA News
http://www.esa.int

2 February 2007

Sophisticated ESA space weather tool under development

If a satellite encounters high-energy particles or other 'space weather'
phenomena before ground controllers can take action, on-board electronics
could be disrupted, scientific instruments damaged and, in very rare and
extreme cases, spacecraft may even be lost. A sophisticated tool in
development at ESOC promises to provide effective monitoring and
forecasting for any type of mission.

But since early 2005, SEISOP (Space Environment Information System for
Operations), a space-weather monitoring and forecasting tool under
development at ESA's Space Operations Centre, has been successfully
providing near-real-time space weather reports for Integral, ESA's
gamma-ray space observatory.

Solar activity influences the entire solar system in several ways,
including generating streams of fast-moving energetic particles and sudden
bursts of damaging X-rays during solar flares.

Energetic cosmic rays from elsewhere in the galaxy also penetrate into our
solar system. These phenomena are some of the major sources of abnormal
behaviour and aging for spacecraft and their sensitive scientific
instruments.

Space Weather affects spacecraft in many ways

Developed in collaboration with the ESA Space Weather Applications Pilot
Project with funding from the Portuguese Task Force at ESA, SEISOP
comprises a database of spacecraft health records and worldwide space
weather observations, combined with sophisticated software applications
that provide reporting, warning, forecasting and history tracking for the
Integral Flight Control Team.

"Space weather affects spacecraft in many ways. There can be random lost
data, changes in orbit dynamics and reduced quality of science data.
Therefore, real-time updates are essential when deciding how long to shut
down instruments during hazardous periods," says Alessandro Donati, Head
of ESOC's Advanced Mission Concepts and Technologies office.

ESA, NASA, NOAA, other sources feed data to SEISOP

Some of the space weather data is gathered by ESA, NASA and NOAA (US
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) spacecraft, while other
observations come from numerous ground-based institutes and facilities.
SEISOP is a member of SWENET, the Space Weather European Network.

SEISOP enables mission controllers to predict when they should shut down
instruments such as star trackers, place systems into 'safe mode' or take
other action to protect sensitive on-board electronics and scientific
sensors.

While some instruments are equipped to automatically shut down during
adverse periods, not all are and bringing an instrument back into service
after an automated shut down is time consuming. Further, it has until now
been difficult to know when radiation had fallen to safe levels, once an
event like a solar flare had taken place.

SEISOP to enter operational development

In 2007, SEISOP will enter operational development aimed at providing all
ESA missions with the same vital space weather updates. "We expect to
start work this year to create the final operational version. SEISOP can
potentially provide warning services not only within ESA but also to space
agencies worldwide, since space weather can affect any spacecraft," says
Donati.

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