The development of new solar indices for use in thermospheric density modeling
Institution:
1. Space Environment Technologies, Space Weather Division, 1676 Palisades Drive, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272, USA;2. Space Environment Technologies, 986 Croke Drive, Thornton, CO 80260, USA;3. Air Force Space Command, Space Analysis/A9AC, AFSPC/A9AC, Atrium II, Suite 212, 1150 Academy Park Loop, Colorado Springs, CO 80910, USA;1. Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303, USA;2. Center for Space Science and Engineering Research, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA;3. GATS Inc., Driggs, ID 83422, USA;4. Institute of Physics, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany;1. Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200030, China;2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China;3. School of Remote Sensing and Geomatics Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China;1. Key Laboratory of Planetary Science, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, China;2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;3. Department of Geomatics Engineering, Bulent Ecevit University, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey;1. Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200030, China;2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10047, China;3. Department of Geomatics Engineering, Bulent Ecevit University, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey;4. School of Geodesy and Geomatics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China
Abstract:
New solar indices have been developed to improve thermospheric density modeling for research and operational purposes. Out of 11 new and 4 legacy indices and proxies, we have selected 3 (F10.7, S10.7, and M10.7) for use in the new JB2006 empirical thermospheric density model. In this work, we report on the development of these solar irradiance indices. The rationale for their use, their definitions, and their characteristics, including the IS 21348:2007 spectral category and sub-category, wavelength range, solar source temperature region, solar source feature, altitude region of terrestrial atmosphere absorption at unit optical depth, and terrestrial atmosphere thermal processes in the region of maximum energy absorption, are described. We also summarize for each solar index the facility and instrument(s) used to observe the solar emission, the time frame over which the data exist, the measurement cadence, the data latency, and the research as well as operational availability. The new solar indices are provided in forecast as well as real time and historical time frames (http://SpaceWx.com JB2006 Quicklink). We describe the forecast methodology, compare results with actual data for active and quiet solar conditions, and compare improvements in F10.7 forecasting with legacy HASDM and NOAA SWPC forecasts.
