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Predicting solar spectra using broadband EUV irradiance measurements
  • +2
  • Vicki Knoer,
  • Frank Eparvier,
  • Ed Thiemann,
  • Phil Chamberlin,
  • Tom Woods
Vicki Knoer
LASP, LASP

Corresponding Author:vicki.knoer@colorado.edu

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Frank Eparvier
LASP, LASP
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Ed Thiemann
LASP, LASP
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Phil Chamberlin
LASP, LASP
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Tom Woods
LASP, LASP
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Abstract

Soft x-ray and EUV radiation from the Sun is absorbed by and ionizes the atmosphere, creating both the ionosphere and thermosphere. Temporal changes in irradiance energy and spectral distribution can have drastic impacts on the ionosphere, impacting technologies such as satellite drag and radio communication. Because of this, it is necessary to estimate and predict changes in Solar EUV spectral irradiance. Ideally, this would be done by direct measurement but the high cost of solar EUV spectrographs makes this prohibitively expensive. Instead, scientists must use data driven models to predict the solar spectrum for a given irradiance measurement. In this study, we further develop the Synthetic Reference Spectral Irradiance Model (SynRef). The SynRef model, which uses broadband EUV irradiance data from EUVM at Mars, was created to mirror the SORCE XPS model which uses data from the TIMED SEE instrument and the SORCE XPS instrument at Earth. Both models superpose theoretical Active Region and Quiet Sun spectra generated by CHIANTI to match daily measured irradiance data, and output a modeled solar EUV spectrum for that day. By adjusting the weighting of Active Region and Quiet Sun spectra, we update the SynRef model to better agree with the FISM model and with spectral data collected from sounding rocket flights. We also use the broadband EUVM measurements to estimate AR temperature. This will allow us to select from a library of AR reference spectra with different temperatures. We present this updated SynRef model to more accurately characterize the Solar EUV and soft x-ray spectra.