Solar-Cycle Variability Results fromthe Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) Mission

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Date

2022

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Springer

Abstract

The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) was a NASA mission that operated from 2003 to 2020 to provide key climate-monitoring measurements of total solar irradiance (TSI) and solar spectral irradiance (SSI). This 17-year mission made TSI and SSI observations during the declining phase of Solar Cycle 23, during all of Solar Cycle 24, and at the very beginning of Solar Cycle 25. The SORCE solar-variability results include comparisons of the solar irradiance observed during Solar Cycles 23 and 24 and the solar-cycle minima levels in 2008 – 2009 and 2019 – 2020. The differences between these two minima are very small and are not significantly above the estimate of instrument stability over the 11- year period. There are differences in the SSI variability for Solar Cycles 23 and 24, notably for wavelengths longer than 250 nm. Consistency comparisons with SORCE variability on solar-rotation timescales and solar-irradiance model predictions suggest that the SORCE Solar Cycle 24 SSI results might be more accurate than the SORCE Solar Cycle 23 results. The SORCE solar-variability results have been useful for many Sun–climate studies and will continue to serve as a reference for comparisons with future missions studying solar variability.

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Keywords

Total solar irradiance, Solar spectral irradiance, Solar-cycle variability, Sun–climate observations

Citation

Woods, T. N., Harder, J. W., Kopp, G., & Snow, M. (2022). Solar-Cycle Variability Results from the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) Mission. Solar Physics, 297(4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-022-01980-z