| definition |
- The Space Environment Monitor System Aboard GOES
The Space Environment Monitor (SEM) consists of: a three-axis
vector magnetometer; an Energetic Particle Sensor and associated
High-energy Proton and Alpha Detector (HEPAD); and an X-ray
Sensor (XRS). This set of instruments is designed to provide
real-time measurement of space weather: solar activity, the
charged particle environment, and the Earth's magnetic field at
synchronous orbit.
The magnetometer measures the magnitude and direction of the
Earth's ambient magnetic field with three orthogonal sensors,
located in a sensor assembly and attached to a boom that places
the sensor three meters away from the body of the spacecraft.
The Energetic Particle Sensor (EPS) and the High-Energy Proton
and Alpha Detector (HEPAD) monitor solar protons and alpha
particles, produced during large flares, which are a radiation
hazard to manned and unmanned operations in space and the
ionosphere at high latitudes. The HEPAD instrument covers the
very high-energy protons and alpha particles that are produced
in large solar flares.
The X-Ray Sensor performs real-time measurements of the solar
X-ray emissions in two channels covering the spectral ranges of
0.5 Angstroms (shortwave) and 1 to 9 angstroms (longwave). The
sensitivity of the sensor was chosen to permit quiet sun
background measurements at as low a level of solar activity as
possible while detecting events at the lowest practicable
threshold for early event warning.
The Future: Solar X-Ray Imager
"http://www.spaceweather.noaa.gov/stories/sw2b.htm"
[Source: NOAA]
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