BackForwardInstrument:  SWAP 

Instrument details
Acronym SWAP
Full name Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing
Purpose Observation of solar activity, specifically for early detection of solar flares
Short description EUV telescope to provide imagery of the Sun disk and corona in the Fe-XII line at 17.4 nm at 1 min rate
Background Part of a package of instruments for observation of solar activity and ionospheric effects
Scanning Technique Sun pointing from a sunsynchronous dawn-dusk orbit. Corona view included
Resolution 2200 km at the Sun surface
Coverage / Cycle Full Sun disk each 60 s
Mass 10 kg Power 5 W Data Rate

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2009 to 2024
Last update: 2021-12-16
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Solar and space environment monitors
  • Solar activity monitor
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 2
  • Solar magnetograph, solar EUV/X-ray imagery and EUV/X-ray irradiance, both on the Earth-Sun line and off the Earth-Sun line
  • Solar EUV spectrometer [from L1, GEO, LEO]
  • Solar EUV imager [from L1, GEO, LEO]
  • Solar coronagraph and heliospheric imagery both on the Earth-Sun line and off the Earth-Sun line (e.g. L5 point)
  • Solar coronographic imager [from L1, GEO, LEO]
  • Subcomponent 3
  • UV spectral imagery (e.g. GEO, HEO, MEO, LEO)
  • EUV spectrometer [from GEO, HEO, MEO, LEO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Solar EUV image
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Solar EUV flux4 - fairNo specific limitation.Few channels, moderate dynamic range, full solar disc and corona
Solar EUV image*4 - fairNo specific limitation.Fluxmetry with coarse spatial resolution, corona view included
Solar coronagraphic image3 - highNo specific limitation.EUV (10-121.6 nm), observed with occultation