The NRL SOLRAD X-ray detectors: A summary of the observations and a comparison with the SMS/GOES detectors

✍ Scribed by S. W. Kahler; R. W. Kreplin

• Book ID: 104643136
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1991
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 765 KB
• Volume: 133
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0038-0938
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00149895

✦ Synopsis

The Naval Research Laboratory flew solar X-ray ionization chamber detectors on a series of Solar Radiation (SOLRAD) satellites from 1960 through 1979. The flare responses of the SOLRAD 11 detectors are compared with those of the similar NOAA SMS/GOES detectors during two periods of common observations. The nominal GOES fluxes exceed those of SOLRAD 11 by a factor of ~ 1.5-2 in the 0.5-4 band, but fall below those of SOLRAD by a factor of ~ 2-4 in the 1-8 A band. Significant passband differences account for these relationships between the detector responses. Since the X-ray detectors are standardized among the various SOLRAD satellites, and all detectors are closely matched among the various SMS/GOES satellites, these conversion factors allow the SOLRAD flare observations to serve as proxies for GOES X-ray observations prior to the GOES era. We summarize the detector characteristics and data sources of the 0.5-3 A. and 1-8 ~ detectors for the SOLRAD series.