Calibration of space instrumentation with synchrotron radiation
Abstract
The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is Germany's national metrology institute providing scientific and technical services. For more than 20 years, PTB has used synchrotron radiation at the electron storage rings BESSY I and BESSY II for photon metrology in the spectral range from UV radiation to X-rays, e.g. for the calibration of radiation sources, detectors, and spectrometers as well as for the characterization of optical components. Most of the measurements are based on two different primary standards, electron storage rings as primary radiation source standards and cryogenic electrical substitution radiometers as primary detector standards. Many activities are related to radiometric calibrations of space-based instruments for extraterrestrial, solar, and astronomical missions. Outstanding examples have been the calibration of the SUMER and CDS spectrographs of the SOHO mission, X-ray detector calibrations for the X-ray observatories Chandra and XMM-Newton, and the calibration of Lyman-alpha detectors for the NASA satellites TWINS. This contribution presents examples from recent work, in particular within the framework of the ESA projects PROBA 2 and Solar Orbiter.
- Publication:
-
35th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2004
- Bibcode:
- 2004cosp...35.1938R