Calibration of the GOES 6–16 high-energy proton detectors based on modelling of ground level enhancement energy spectra

Abstract

For several decades, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) series have provided both real-time and historical data for radiation exposure estimation and solar proton radiation environment modelling. Recently, several groups conducted calibration studies that significantly reduced the uncertainties on the response of GOES proton detectors, thus improving the reliability of the spectral observations of solar energetic particle events. In this work, the long-established Band function fitting set for past ground level enhancements (GLEs) and their recent revision are used as references to estimate the best matching energies of proton channels of GOES 6–16, with emphasis on comparing with previous calibration studies on the high energetic proton measurements. The calculated energies for different missions in the same series (GOES 8, 10, 11) show overall consistency but with small variations, and differences among missions of different series are noticeable for measurements crossing the past three solar cycles, though the results are sensitive to the method used to subtract background fluxes. The discrepancy and agreement with previous calibration efforts are demonstrated with other independent analyses. It is verified that the integral channel P11 of GOES 6–16 can be reliably used as a differential proton channel with an effective energy of about 1 GeV. Therefore, the multi-decade in situ measurements of the GOES series can be utilized with more extensive energy coverage to improve space radiation environment models.

Galactic Cosmic Rays and Solar Energetic Particles in Cis-Lunar Space

“…However, GOES is an operational satellite with limited energy and charge resolution. Cross-calibration with science instruments showed an overestimation of its nominal energy channels [11,12,13,14], high GCR background, and residual particle contamination in low-energy channels [15].…”

NMDB@Athens

“…Accurate EPS and HEPAD calibrations have been difficult to achieve. While important work on cross-calibration and incorporation of EPS and HEPAD into models has been performed recently (Sandberg et al 2014;Bruno 2017;Rodriguez et al 2017;Raukunen et al 2020;Kress et al 2021;Hu & Semones 2022), the final word on EPS and HEPAD calibrations has yet to be written.…”

Annual integral solar proton fluences for 1984–2019

“…Many studies have been performed to improve the uniformity of the multi-satellite measurement series via intercalibration, cross-calibration, or bow-tie analysis 1 of response functions (e.g. Jiggens et al 2012Jiggens et al , 2018Sandberg et al 2014;Rodriguez et al 2014Rodriguez et al , 2017Bruno 2017;Raukunen et al 2020;Hu & Semones 2022).…”