The Solar Observing Optical Network (SOON) consists of three

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

(USAF)

Air Force Weather Agency An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

(AFWA)

solar observatories Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

. AFWA operates a

solar telescope A solar telescope or a solar observatory is a special-purpose telescope used to observe the Sun. Solar telescopes usually detect light with wavelengths in, or not far outside, the visible spectrum. Obsolete names for Sun telescopes include helio ...

at each site to monitor solar active regions at optical wavelengths. The

National Geophysical Data Center The United States National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) provided scientific stewardship, products and services for geophysical data describing the solid earth, marine, and solar-terrestrial environment, as well as earth observations from spac ...

(NGDC) archives histograms of intensity versus area every minute for the active regions. It also archives magnetograms of the magnetic field structure and tachograms of plasma velocities on an irregular schedule. The SOON observatories are operated by detachments of AFWA's 2nd Weather Group at the following sites: *

RAAF Learmonth RAAF Base Learmonth, also known as Learmonth Airport , is a joint use Royal Australian Air Force base and civil airport. It is located near the town of Exmouth on the north-west coast of Western Australia. RAAF Base Learmonth is one of the RA ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, Australia *

Holloman AFB Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base established in 1942 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, which is the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. The ba ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, USA * San Vito dei Normanni Air Station,

San Vito dei Normanni San Vito dei Normanni ( Sanvitese: ), historically known as San Vito degli Schiavoni is an Italian town of 19,947 inhabitants of the province of Brindisi in Apulia. The inhabitants are called Sanvitesi (or Santuvitisi in dialect) and the town is s ...

, Italy (contractor-run site) Telescopes at Palehua, Hawaii and

Ramey Air Force Base Ramey Air Force Base also known as Borinquen Field, is a former United States Air Force base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It was named after United States Army Air Forces Brigadier General Howard Knox Ramey. Following its closure, it was redevel ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

have been shut down. SOON Telescope History: The original SOON network was designed by Dr. Richard B. Dunn, a Harvard educated engineer/astrophysicist. Dr. Dunn commissioned the Tower Telescope (later designated the Dunn Solar Tower) on Sacramento Peak, Sunspot, NM in the late 60s. The SOON network of 5 solar telescopes was built at Sunspot for the USAF working with international partners at far flung sites. The Dunn Solar Tower at Sunspot, NM will potentially be idled when the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, or DKIST, is commissioned on Maui. There is an active Consolidated Repair Activity (CRA) based out of

Holloman Air Force Base Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base established in 1942 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, which is the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. The b ...

, New Mexico which is operated by the 49th Communications Squadron. The CRA provides depot-level maintenance and support to the SOON program. The CRA also develops maintenance procedures, institutes physical (non-software) updates, and overhauls all three telescopes on a regular basis.

Description

The basic SOON telescope is a evacuated refractor mounted on a polar axis. It has a tunable monochromatic filter centered on the

hydrogen-alpha Hydrogen-alpha, typically shortened to H-alpha or Hα, is a deep-red visible spectral line of the hydrogen atom with a wavelength of 656.28 nm in air and 656.46 nm in vacuum. It is the first spectral line in the Balmer series and is emit ...

absorption line Absorption spectroscopy is spectroscopy that involves techniques that measure the absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption of electromagnetic radiation, as a function of frequency or wavelength, due to its interaction with a sample. Th ...

at in the Sun's light spectrum. Shifting the filter's characteristics slightly away from the center of the

H-alpha Hydrogen-alpha, typically shortened to H-alpha or Hα, is a deep-red visible spectral line of the hydrogen atom with a wavelength of 656.28 nm in air and 656.46 nm in vacuum. It is the first spectral line in the Balmer series and is em ...

peak results in pictures of the solar surface region at differing depths. Corresponding to the optical images of solar regions are the digital "brightness-area" data. These data are often plotted as brightness-area histograms for a particular time or, in a 3-3-dimensional display, showing a time sequence of changing intensity of optical emissions from areas of solar active regions. The automatic capability of the SOON telescope system allows the rapid collection of this brightness-area information on many active regions on the sun. By using these data, quantitative measures can be determined, include instability, growth/decay rates, and precise dimensions for each active solar region.

Improved Solar Observing Optical Network

The planned Improved Solar Observing Optical Network (ISOON) is intended to replace the current SOON network. As of 2012, ISOON only exists at a single pilot site on

Kirtland Air Force Base Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base. It is located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico, urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator C ...

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=http://gcmd.nasa.gov/KeywordSearch/Metadata.do?Portal=GCMD&KeywordPath=%7C%5BFreetext%3D%27+gov.noaa.ngdc.solar.G00039+%27%5C&OrigMetadataNode=NOAA-NMMR&EntryId=gov.noaa.ngdc.solar.G00039&MetadataView=Full&MetadataType=0&lbnode=mdlb2, title=Solar Brightness and Magnetic Discontinuities Collected by the Solar Observing Optical Network (SOON), publisher=National Geophysical Data Center, accessdate=2011-10-14{{dead link, date=June 2021, bot=medic{{cbignore, bot=medic {{cite web, url=http://www.afweather.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=16522, archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212014552/http://www.afweather.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=16522, url-status=dead, archive-date=December 12, 2012, title=Factsheets: 2nd Weather Squadron, Solar Observing Optical Network, publisher=United States Air Force Weather Agency, accessdate=2011-10-14 {{cite web, url=http://nsosp.nso.edu/isoon, title=Improved Solar Observing Optical Network, publisher=National Solar Observatory, accessdate=2013-02-27

External links

USDOC/NOAA/NESDIS/National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Home Page

Space Weather Operations
from the Air Force Weather Agency Solar observatories Solar telescopes

Description

Improved Solar Observing Optical Network

See also

References

External links