Space Weather Activities at the European Space Agency

A report about the status of the Space Environments and Effects Analysis Section (ESA/ESTEC/TOS-EMA) Space Weather Efforts was given by Norma Crosby, including:

Organisation
Perspective on Effects of Space Environment
Model and Tools Development
Data Issues (Environment Monitors)
European Space Weather Network

What follows  is a brief resume about each of these five points.

Organisation  

The "Space Environments and Effects Analysis Section (ESA/ESTEC/TOS-EMA)" is part of the “Mathematical and Software Division” and consists of 8 staff, 1 researcher, trainees and students. This division is under the “Electrical Engineering Department” and is connected to the “Directorate of Technical and Operational Support”. TOS-EMA provides support for ESA projects and European industry concerning the various unwanted effects that the space environment may have on technical and biological space systems (see Point 2).

Perspective on Effects of Space Environment  

The hazardous space environment that TOS-EMA is mainly concerned with can be divided into three different areas (radiation, near Earth plasma and neutrals (see below for definitions)), where each group consists of various phenomenon. Each type of phenomenon is constantly being modified by different physical processes in space on all spatial- and time-scales. In extreme cases unwanted effects on technical and biological systems can be observed (some are mentioned below).

1. Radiation (cosmic rays, solar energetic particle events, radiation belts) can cause radiation hazards to astronauts or produce single-event upsets in electronic systems, etc.
2. Near Earth Plasma (geomagnetic storms and sub-storms) can lead to electrostatic charging and discharging, terrestrial power line disruptions, GPS/GNSS disruptions, etc.
3. Neutrals (atmosphere, meteoroids, debris) can cause increased drag of spacecraft, impact damage, etc.

See the detailed information concerning the space environment and its effects on space systems.

TOS-EMA provides projects with a service in analysing the space environment and
its potentially harmful effects. This is often in the form of project-specific environment specifications for the development of various (electronic) system, and reviewing the work by industry in this domain. To do this models and computational tools are used (see point 3).

Model and Tools Development  

Models of Effects

• SPace ENVironment Information System (SPENVIS) provides information on the space environment and its likely effects (e.g. dose, SEU, NIEL, charging, internal charging, etc.) on space systems, and models describing the environments and effects, see also the Space Environment Information System page
• DICTAT concerns internal electrostatic charging analysis tool development.
• SAAP will include a spacecraft anomaly database and will develop tools for the analysis and prediction of spacecraft anomalies.
• One of the objectives of the Space Environment Database and Analysis (SEDAT) is that engineering model updates can also be performed on a routine basis.
• ESABASE concerns debris, atomic oxygen, contamination, radiation effects in 3D.
• GEANT-4 is a Monte-Carlo radiation transport code.

See the more detailed information concerning the above-mentioned models and tools.

At the end of N. Crosby's report Mike Hapgood (CLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, U.K.) gave an introduction to "SEDAT" (see report about SEDAT by M. Hapgood).

Environment Models

1. Time-Dependent Radiation-Belt Space Weather Modelling (TREND).
2. Martian Global Circulation Model (GCM) model.
3. SEDAT (see above).
4. SPENVIS (see above).

Data Issues (Environment Monitors)  

In-orbit monitors of the space environment are important for Space Weather monitoring, especially because they provide real-time measurements of relevant input parameters. Some ESA space environment monitors (already existing and in development) are mentioned below:

Environment Monitors

1. Radiation Environment Monitor (REM)  - flew on STRV-1b 94-98, MIR 94-96.
2. Standard Radiation Environment Monitor (SREM) will measure electrons, protons and ions and includes a telescope (see also http://pc1582.psi.ch:80/SREM/).
3. DEBIE (under development) will be a standard meteoroid and space debris in-situ monitor which will actively monitor sub-millimeter sized particles which impact its surface.
4. The Columbus Radiation Environment and Effects Package (CREEP) will be placed on the International Space Station and will include SREM.

European Space Weather Network  

TOS-EMA has initiated various outreach activities concerning Space Weather in establishing a European Segment of a Space Weather Network.

1. SPEE (Study of Plasma and Energetic Electron Environment and Effects) is the
   output of a ESA contract carried out by the Finnish Meteorological Institute in collaboration with the Swedish Institute of Space Physics. One of the work packages included the creation of a Space Weather Information Server.
2. The Space Weather Euro News (SWEN) electronic newsletter is a communication tool for the European Space Weather community and is an initiative of the section. It offers information about events, news about on-going research and new results, job opportunities, etc. If you would like to submit an item and/or subscribe to SWEN, please send your submission and/or name + e-mail address to swen@wm.estec.esa.nl
3. The "ESA Workshop on Space Weather" was held at ESTEC, NL, 11-13 Nov. 1998 and was organised by the section. The workshop consisted of invited review talks, poster contributions and working groups on the final day. Review talks and posters were sub-divided into four sections:
   1. Effects and Users
   2. Physical Processes/Presentation of Data
   3. Models and Data
   4. Various World-Wide Space Weather Initiatives
   
   The main goals of the workshop was to:
   • investigate at what stage the different European groups are and how best to co-ordinate efforts to provide the best services for potential users.
   • put together a global picture concerning all issues (scientific, technological, economical, environmental) concerning Space Weather with the emphasis placed on defining potential user requirements of European Space Weather services.
   
   The third day was dedicated to the three working groups:
   • Discussion on Users & Needs
   • Forecasting Space Weather - Scientific Road Map
   • Organisational Issues
   
   At the end of the day the summaries of each of the working groups were presented in front of all the participants.
   
   The "ESA Workshop on Space Weather" proceedings includes review papers, poster papers and working group papers and are printed. Furthermore the papers will be available on the "ESA Space Weather Web Server" in the near future.
4. It was announced that there will be an invitation to tender on a "Space Weather Programme" for member states in the second quarter 1999.

More information about "ESA Space Weather Activities" is available on the "ESA Space Weather Web Server" and includes the ESA slides that were shown at this meeting.

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