BackForwardInstrument:  XPS 

Instrument details
Acronym XPS
Full name XUV Photometer System
Purpose Measurement of solar irradiance in the soft X-ray and EUV range
Short description Set of twelve XUV photometers covering the X-ray and EUV range 0.1-34 nm with resolution 5 to 10 nm, and additionally the bright hydrogen emission at 121.6 nm (Lyman-alpha)
Background Consolidated technology
Scanning Technique Sun pointing from a low-inclination LEO
Resolution N/A (full disk)
Coverage / Cycle Full solar disk at 10 s intervals
Mass 2.6 kg Power 8.6 W Data Rate 267 bps

 

Providing Agency NASA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2003 to 2020
Last update: 2021-10-01
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 1
  • X-ray spectrograph on GEO orbit
  • X-ray spectrometer at LEO
  • 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 X-ray spectrometer [from L1, GEO, LEO]
  • Solar EUV spectrometer [from L1, GEO, LEO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Solar EUV flux spectrum
  • Solar X-ray flux spectrum
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 X-ray flux spectrum*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.High spectral resolution, wide dynamic range
Solar EUV flux spectrum*4 - fairNo specific limitation.Coarse spectral resolution, moderate dynamic range
Solar Lyman-alpha flux2 - very highNo specific limitation.H-Ly-alpha at 121.6 nm (EUV/UV boundary)