HR: 09:45h
AN: SH11A-08 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Heliospheric Imagers for Tracking Coronal Mass Ejections: Lessons Learned from the Solar Mass Ejection Imager
AU: * Johnston, J C
EM: Janet.Johnston@hanscom.af.mil
AF: AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate, 29 Randolph Rd, Hanscom AFB, M 01951
AU: Mozer, J B
EM: Joel.mozer@hanscom.af.mil
AF: AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate, Sun Rd, Sunspot, NM 88349
AU: Radick, R R
EM: Richard.Radick@hanscom.af.mil
AF: AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate, Sun Rd, Sunspot, NM 88349
AU: Holladay, P E
EM: Paul.holladay@hanscom.af.mil
AF: AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate, 29 Randolph Rd, Hanscom AFB, M 01951
AU: Kuchar, T A
EM: Thomas.Kuchar@hanscom.af.mil
AF: ISR Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
AU: Mizuno, D R
EM: Donald.Mizuno@hanscom.af.mil
AF: ISR Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
AU: Webb, D F
EM: David.Webb@hanscom.af.mil
AF: ISR Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Ave, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
AB: The Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) was launched on board the DoD Space Test Program's Coriolis satellite on January 6, 2003. The SMEI instrument represents a new kind of imager designed specifically to observe Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and other dense structures in the solar wind as they propagate through the heliosphere. Its viewing range starts at 20 degrees elongation from the Sun and extends to beyond 1 A.U.. More than 120 CMEs have been detected with the SMEI instrument, including three well-documented "halo" events that led to geomagnetic storm conditions on Earth. These observations demonstrate the potential of a heliospheric imager for space weather specification and prediction purposes. More than halfway through SMEI's planned three-year lifetime, we look ahead towards an operational heliospheric imager. We will briefly reveal some of the lessons learned from the SMEI mission and offer recommendations for a future system with operational capability.
DE: 7500 SOLAR PHYSICS, ASTROPHYSICS, AND ASTRONOMY
DE: 7513 Coronal mass ejections
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting