Proc. SPIE 4498, 84−90, 2001
UV/EUV and Visible Space Instrumentation for Astronomy and Solar Physics,
O.H.W. Siegmund, S. Fineschi, M.A. Gummin (eds.)
© SPIE − The International Society for Optical Engineering.
Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) space experiment
R.R. Radick
Air Force Research Laboratory, National Solar Observatory, Sunspot, NM
Abstract
The Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) is a proof-of-concept space experiment
designed to observe solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and forecast their
arrival at Earth. SMEI will image CMEs by sensing sunlight scattered from the
free electrons in these ejecta (i.e., Thomson scattering). SMEI will be
launched by a Titan II rocket into a circular, 830-km, sun-synchronous orbit
in mid-2002 as part of the Space Test Program's CORIOLIS mission. SMEI will
image nearly the entire sky once per spacecraft orbit over a mission lifetime
of three years. Successful operation of SMEI will represent a major step in
improving space weather forecasts by providing one- to three-day predictions
of geomagnetic storms at the Earth. The SMEI experiment is being desinged and
constructed by a team of scientists and engineers from the Air Force Research
Laboratory, the University of Birmingham (UB) in the United Kingdom, the
University of California at San Diego (UCSD), and Boston University. The
Air Force, NASA, and UB are providing financial support.