About
The SMILE Data Fusion Facility has been created to allow the visualisation of SMILE data products in conjunction with other contemporaneous solar-terrestrial physics experiments.
NOTE: This facility is currently being trialled with simulated data in preparation for the SMILE mission.
The facility combines data products from the SMILE Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) [1] with data from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) [2]. The magnetopause position is derived from the SXI data and field line traced to the ionosphere. Combined data products can be downloaded from the facility for use externally providing the appropriate acknowledgements are made.
The SXI images are produced at variable cadence, which is dependent on the received X-ray signal to noise. The X-ray signal is dependent on many factors, but varies with solar wind flux [3]. The SuperDARN data are produced following standard SuperDARN reduction techniques with slight modifications [4].
More information about the SMILE mission can be found here [5]. The software in this facility was developed by Teri Apps [6].
Requirements to run and use the facility
The facility can be run through a web browser. There is a simple login procedure required to obtain access. A tutorial on how to use the facility will be included. Also, tooltips are found over user options within the facility.
Acknowledgments
Please acknowledge this facility in your presentations and papers, and also use the references provided in the References section below. Here are some statements to help:
The SMILE Data Fusion Facility was produced by the SMILE Ground-based and Additional Science Working Group, on behalf of the SMILE Consortium. It was funded with support from L’Oréal-UNESCO FWIS Rising Talents UK and Ireland Fellowship 2020 and Science Technology Facility Council. It was produced in collaboration with Teri Apps. SMILE is a joint mission between the European Space Agency and Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The authors acknowledge the use of SuperDARN data. SuperDARN is a collection of radars funded by national scientific funding agencies of Australia, Canada, China, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States of America. The facility makes use of a selection of tasks within the PyDARN package.
Data Assumptions
SMILE SXI
The SXI data have been pre-processed at the University of Leicester using a series of steps and assumptions. The main SXI data are in the form of FITs files containing an image. Higher-level SXI data products include the derived magnetopause position. The magnetopause position can be derived via several techniques.
| Time resolution of SXI images | X-ray emissivity dependent, so this will be variable and dependent on the exact date-time selection made by the user |
|---|---|
| Magnetopause derived position | Taken in the plane (GSE - X, Y), and field line traced to the ionosphere |
| Magnetopause model | Optimised between [7] and [8] |
SuperDARN
The SuperDARN data have been pre-processed at the University of Leicester using a series of steps and assumptions to produce a set of fitted vectors and electrostatic potential patterns. More details about general SuperDARN processing can be found here [9]. The specific data processing options used in the calculation of the fitted vectors are found in the table below. These were chosen as they were considered the most appropriate options at the time of processing.
| RST | 4.2 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1403226 |
|---|---|
| FitACF version | 3.0 |
| Channel | Primary channel only |
| Time resolution | 120 seconds |
| OMNI data | 1-min resolution solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field data |
| Order of fit | 6 |
| SuperDARN internal tool, map_addmodel | RG96 |
Field-line tracing
The field-line tracing is run internally to the facility. The SXI determined magnetopause is field-line traced back to the ionosphere using parameters as specified by the user. In addition, which may be useful when the SXI result is not available, we plot the model last closed field line (LCFL), as calculated using fixed parameters. To reduce processing time in rendering the plot, we find the LCFL in 5-degree steps ranging from -45 degrees and 45 degrees about the Sun-Earth line. Details of the model, assumptions, and fixed parameters are found in the table below.
| Model reference | https://pypi.org/project/PyGeopack/ |
|---|---|
| Magnetic field model | The model is dependent on the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field conditions. The model used is set by the user for the SXI result, or T96 for the LCFL. |
| Ionosphere height | Given by the user for the SXI result, set at 110.00 km for the LCFL |
| No. traced test points | 200 |
| Limits in X-direction for magnetopause tracing | 5 RE to 15 RE |
Tools and functionality
The visualisation in this facility is written with Bokeh. The images include several tool tips. These are briefly explained here.
| Pan [arrows symbol] | Navigate around the image. This is applicable if you have zoomed into a small section |
|---|---|
| Zoom [magnifying glass] | Zoom in and out of a region by selecting a box around an area of interest |
| Wheel zoom [wheel plus magnifying glass] | Zoom in and out of a region using the wheel |
| Reset | Reset to the original setting |
| Point information | Allows information boxes to appear over certain features in the image, e.g. an ionospheric flow vector, or the last closed field line (LCFL) |
Known issues and future updates
We are aware of certain issues with the Data Fusion Facility. There are also updates that we would like to implement if resources allow. The list below is not exhaustive. Please provide any further suggestions.
| SuperMAG data | We will add SuperMAG gridded data to the facility |
|---|---|
| UVI estimated auroral oval | An estimate of the SMILE-UVI or statistical auroral oval could be overplot on the image |
| SMILE-SXI Magnetopause projection | 1) In addition to projecting the magnetopause from the ecliptic plane, our goal is to incorporate a projection of the magnetopause aligned with the tangent of the SMILE-SXI line of sight and the magnetopause boundary. 2) Inculde a function to select between various boundary detection methods for magnetopause projections. |
| Updates to time selection functions | 1) Automatically load the default date SMILE-SXI FOV image and SuperDARN map plots upon the initial opening of the 'Fusion' page. 2) May retain time selection when moving between 'Fusion', 'Orbit plots' and 'Conjunction planning' pages. |
References
- SMILE SXI: https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/physics/research/projects/smile
- SuperDARN: Chisham, G., et al. 2007, A decade of the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN): Scientific achievements, new techniques and future directions, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-007-9017-8
- Sibeck et al. 2018, Imaging Plasma Density Structures in the Soft X-Rays Generated by Solar Wind Charge Exchange with Neutrals, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0504-7
- Ruohoniemi and Baker, Large-scale imaging of high-latitude convection with Super Dual Auroral Radar Network HF radio observations https://doi.org/10.1029/98JA01288
- SMILE mission: https://sci.esa.int/web/smile
- Teri Apps: http://www.teri-apps.com/
- Jorgensen et al. 2019, Boundary Detection in Three Dimensions with Application to the SMILE mission: The Effect of Model-Fitting Noise, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA026124
- Collier and Connor 2018: Magnetopause Surface Reconstruction From Tangent Vector Observations https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025763
- SuperDARN GIThub: https://github.com/SuperDARN