The KuaFu mission-Space Storms,Aurora and Space Weather Explorer-is an"L1+Polar"triple satellite project composed of three spacecraft:KuaFu-A will be located at L1 and have instruments to observe solar EUV and FUV emissions,and white-light Coronal Mass Ejections(CMEs),and to measure radio waves,the local plasma and magnetic field,and high-energy particles.KuaFuB1 and KuaFu-B2 will bein polar orbits chosen to facilitate continuous 24 hours a day observation of the north polar Aurora Oval.The KuaFu mission is designed to observe the complete chain of disturbances from the solar atmosphere to geospace,including solar flares,CMEs,interplanetary clouds,shock waves,and their geo-effects,such as magnetospheric sub-storms and magnetic storms,and auroral activities.The mission may start at the next solar maximum(launch in about 2012),and with an initial mission lifetime of two to three years.KuaFu data will be used for the scientific study of space weather phenomena,and will be used for space weather monitoring and forecast purposes.The overall mission design,instrument complement,and incorporation of recent technologies will target new fundamental science,advance our understanding of the physical processes underlying space weather,and raise the standard of end-to-end monitoring of the Sun-Earth system.
The effects of typhoon Matsa on the ionosphere are studied by using GPS-TEC data observed at about 50 GPS stations.It is shown that the ionosphere has been already influenced and TEC tends to increase before the landing of Matsa,and the difference of TEC from its monthly median over the typhoon area is about 5 TECU.With the landing of Matsa,both the magnitude and the area of increased TEC decrease.One day after the landing of Matsa,TEC reaches its minimum and is lower than the monthly median.In comparison of TEC along the typhoon's path with that along three reference paths far from the typhoon,it is found that typhoon's impact on TEC can be fully distinguished.The evolution of TEC variation has the same tendency as reported typhoon-induced foF2.
MAO TianWANG JingSongYANG GuangLinYU TaoPING JinSongSUO YuCheng
