Solar irradiance observations with PREMOS filter radiometers on the PICARD mission: In-flight performance and data release

¹ Physikalisch-Meteorologishes Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC), Dorfstrasse 33, 7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland
e-mail: gael.cessateur@pmodwrc.ch
² Space Physics Division, Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Ringlaan 3, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
³ Laboratoire de Physique et de Chimie de l’Environnement et de l’Espace (LPC2E), UMR 6115 CNRS and University of Orléans, 3 Av. de la recherche scientifique, 45071 Orléans, France
⁴ Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (IACETHZ), Universittstrasse 16, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
⁵ Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
⁶ Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), CNRS – Université Paris VI & Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 78280 Guyancourt, France
⁷ National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Hampton Road, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 0LW, UK
⁸ Observatoire Royal de Belgique Koninklijke Sterrenwacht van België (ORB-KSB), Ringlaan 3, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
⁹ Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Berlin, Germany
¹⁰ French Space Agency (CNES), 18 avenue Édouard Belin, 31401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France

Received: 16 October 2015
Accepted: 27 January 2016

Abstract

Context. The PREcision Monitoring Sensor (PREMOS) is a solar radiometer on board the French PICARD mission that was launched in June 2010 and decommissioned in April 2014.

Aims. The PREMOS radiometer obtains solar irradiance measurements in specific spectral windows in the UV, visible, and near-infrared. In this paper, the PREMOS data and calibration methods are presented.

Methods. Using back-up channels, the degradation can theoretically be assessed to correct operational channels. However, a strong degradation within all PREMOS channels requires the application of additional methods, namely using back-up channels and assessing the degradation via a proxy-based model.

Results. The corrected Level 3 PREMOS data are then used in different contexts in order to be validated. First, the signature of the p-mode are retrieved from the PREMOS data. The Venus transit allows us to empirically determine the intrinsic noise level within the PREMOS high cadence data for the visible and near-infrared channels. We then compare the PREMOS data directly to other data sets, namely from the SOLar-STellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) and the Solar Irradiance Monitor (SIM) instruments on board the SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) spacecraft. Regarding the UV channels, we found an excellent correlation over the lifetime of the PREMOS mission. The ratio between SORCE and PREMOS observations is always less than 1%. Regarding the SSI measurements in the visible and near-infrared, a comparison of short-term variations (i.e. 27-day modulation) shows a rather good correlation by taking into consideration the intrinsic noise within both SIM and PREMOS observations.