Pre-flight calibration of LYRA, the solar VUV radiometer on board PROBA2

A. Benmoussa (1) , I. E. Dammasch (1) , Jean-François Hochedez (1) , U. Schuhle (2) , S. Koller (3) , Y. Stockman (4) , F. Scholze (5) , M. J. Richter (5) , U. Kroth (5) , C. Laubis (5) , M. Dominique (1) , Matthieu Kretzschmar (6) , S. Mekaoui (7) , S. Gissot (1) , A. Theissen (2) , B. Giordanengo (1) , D. Bolsee (8) , C. Hermans (8) , D. Gillotay (8) , J.-M. Defise (4) , W. Schmutz (3)

1 ROB - Royal Observatory of Belgium = Observatoire Royal de Belgique
2 MPS - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
3 PMOD/WRC - Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center
4 CSL - Centre Spatial de Liège
5 PTB - Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt [Berlin]
6 LPCE - Laboratoire de physique et chimie de l'environnement
7 Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium
8 BIRA-IASB - Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy / Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique

Aims. LYRA, the Large Yield Radiometer, is a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) solar radiometer, planned to be launched in November 2009 on the European Space Agency PROBA2, the Project for On-Board Autonomy spacecraft. Methods. The instrument was radiometrically calibrated in the radiometry laboratory of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) at the Berlin Electron Storage ring for SYnchroton radiation (BESSY II). The calibration was done using monochromatized synchrotron radiation at PTB's VUV and soft X-ray radiometry beamlines using reference detectors calibrated with the help of an electrical substitution radiometer as the primary detector standard. Results. A total relative uncertainty of the radiometric calibration of the LYRA instrument between 1% and 11% was achieved. LYRA will provide irradiance data of the Sun in four UV passbands and with high temporal resolution down to 10 ms. The present state of the LYRA pre-flight calibration is presented as well as the expected instrument performance.

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

A. Benmoussa, I. E. Dammasch, Jean-François Hochedez, U. Schuhle, S. Koller, et al.. Pre-flight calibration of LYRA, the solar VUV radiometer on board PROBA2. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2009, 508 (2), pp.1085-1094. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/200913089⟩. ⟨insu-02986672⟩