ICTSW-3/Doc. 03, p. 1

WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION
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COMMISSION FOR BASIC SYSTEMS
COMMISSION FOR AERONAUTICAL METEOROLOGY
INTER-PROGRAMME COORDINATION TEAM ON SPACE WEATHER
THIRD SESSION
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 12-14 NOVEMBER 2012 / ICTSW-3/Doc. 03
(2.XI.2012)
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ITEM: 3
Original: ENGLISH

STATEMENT OF GUIDANCE ON OBSERVATIONS

Extension to WMO Space Weather Observation Requirements

(Submitted by David Jackson, UK)

Summary
Additional requirements are proposed, with a view to:
Extend cosmic ray neutron flux density to aircraft flight levels – important for developing services for aviation (eg radiation impacts)
Include three new thermospheric variables – neutral density, wind and temperature. Important for satellite operations services (in orbit drag and tracking, launch and re-entry).
If the proposed changes are approved, action would be taken to update the Statement of Guidance accordingly.

ACTION PROPOSED

The Inter-Programme Coordination Team is invited to extend the WMO Observations Requirements for the Space Weather category to include the variable listed in the Table in Section 1.

ICTSW-3/Doc. 03, p. 1

Extension to WMO Space Weather Observation Requirements

  1. Proposed additions to WMO Observations Requirements

Id / Variable / Layer / Uncertainty
(Goal / Thresh) / Hor. Res.
(Goal / Thresh) / Vert. Res
(Goal / Thresh) / Obs Cycle
(Goal / Thresh) / Availability
(Goal / Thresh)
Existing requirement for cosmic ray neutron flux density
576 / Cosmic ray neutron flux density / Surface-Earth / 5% / 25% / 1000 km / 5000 km / N/A / N/A / 60 sec / 10 min / 5 min / 30 min
Proposed new requirements
Cosmic ray neutron flux density / Aircraft cruising altitude (35-40kft) / 5% / 25% / 100 km / 500 km / 100m / 1 km / 60 sec / 10 min / 5 min / 30 min(?)
Neutral density / 100-200 km / 5% / 10% / 100 km / 500 km / 5 km / 25 km / 5 sec / 5 min / 5 min / 1 hr
Neutral density / 200-1000 km / 10% / 20% / 100 km / 500 km / 20km / 100km / 5 sec / 30 min / 30 min / 1 hr
Horizontal wind / 100-200 km / 5% / 10% / 100 km / 500 km / 5 km / 25 km / 5 sec / 5 min / 5 min / 1 hr
Horizontal wind / 200-1000 km / 10% / 20% / 100 km / 500 km / 20km / 50km / 5 sec / 30 min / 30 min / 1 hr
Temperature / 100-200 km / 5% / 10% / 100 km / 500 km / 5 km / 25 km / 5 sec / 5 min / 5 min / 1 hr
Temperature / 200-1000 km / 10% / 20% / 100 km / 500 km / 20km / 50km / 5 sec / 30 min / 30 min / 1 hr

The reason for the changes is as follows:

Extend cosmic ray neutron flux density to aircraft flight levels – important for developing services for aviation (eg radiation impacts)

Include three new thermospheric variables – neutral density, wind and temperature. Important for satellite operations services (in orbit drag and tracking, launch and re-entry).

(Note: the proposalimplies reviewing the definition of the set of layers currently used in the database for space weather, which is recalled below:

Ionos / The whole ionosphere / Helio / In the heliosphere
L1 / Solar wind at Lagrange point L1 / Sun / At the sun surface
L4-L5 / Solar wind at Lagrange points L4, L5 / Earth surface / At Earth's surface
Geo / (In situ) at geostationary orbit / Magnet / Magnetosphere
Leo / (In situ) at Low Earth Orbit / 1D / One-dimensional variable
Meo / Intermediate orbit between LEO and GEO
  1. Statement of Guidance

If the proposed changes are accepted, I will take an action to lead the modication of the relevant Statement of Guidance document to include the above observation requirements.

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