Planning for Future Space Weather Observational Platforms

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has conducted a study, the NOAA Satellite Observing System Architecture (NSOSA) study, to plan for the next generation of weather satellites. This study has been an opportunity to design a modern architecture with no pre-conceived notions regarding instruments, platforms, orbits, etc., but driven by user needs. The NSOSA study team developed and evaluated approximately 100 architecture alternatives, to include partner and commercial contributions that are likely to become available with a substantial effort to include instruments, orbits, and CONOPS for future space-based instruments. In addition, NOAA, along with other partners, has also investigated and proposed a plan for the deployment of observing assets, both space-based and ground-based, to meet the Space Weather Action Plan task for identifying measurement tools to make the baseline observations for space weather operations: solar coronagraph, space-based solar x-ray imaging and irradiance, in situ solar wind measurements, geostationary in situ energetic particles and magnetic field; ground-based solar imaging (including solar magnetic field and H-alpha), solar radio emissions, ground-based magnetic field, ionospheric radio occultation, ground-based neutron monitors, distributed array of sensor for ionospheric/thermospheric measurements. This paper will address the high level view of future measurements required by the Space Weather Action Plan (SWAP) and some space-based implementation concepts as developed in the NSOSA study.