A BALLOON-BORNE SOLAR VECTOR MAGNETOGRAPH

SOLAR FLARE PREDICTION IS A CRITICAL NEED FOR AIR FORCE SPACE AND COMMUNICATIONS OPERATIONS. THE KEY TO FLARE PREDICTION IS IN THE HIGHLY STRUCTURED MAGNETIC FIELDS PRECEDING FLARE ERUPTION. THE PROPOSED INSTRUMENT WILL ACHIEVE HIGH-SPATIAL-RESOLUTION MEASUREMENT OF THESE FIELDS BY OPERATION FROM A STRATOSPHERIC BALLOON, ABOVE THE DISTORTING EFFECTS OF THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE. THE PROPOSED SBIR PHASE I RESEARCH WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF ACHIEVING THE OPTICAL, MECHANICAL, AND ELECTRO-OPTIC STABILITY REQUIREMENTS OF A SOLAR VECTOR MAGNETOGRAPH TAKING LONG TIME EXPOSURES FROM A BALLOON PLATFORM UNDER SOLAR ILLUMINATION. THE PROPOSED BALLOON-BORNE, HIGH-RESOLUTION SOLAR VECTOR MAGNETOGRAPH WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOMENT OF AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE FORMATION OF FLARES WITH EXPERIMENTAL DATA FAR SUPERIOR TO ANY AVAILABLE FROM GROUND-BASED OBSERVATORIES. THE UNDERSTANDING WILL BE ESSENTIAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FLARE PREDICTION CAPABILITY, WHICH IS NEEDED FOR THE PROTECTION OF SATELLITES, HUMANS IN SPACE, AND ELECTRICAL UTILITY DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS.