Hinode Operation Update Prepared by the Hinode Science Working Group
John Davis
The Hinode Solar Observatory is currently experiencing technical difficulties that have resulted in a reduction in the rate at which scientific data can be transmitted to the ground from the on-board recorder. This is a purely spacecraft transmission problem and has not affected the quality or the short term cadence of the scientific data that is being recorded on-board by the three instruments. The cause of the problem has been limited to two possible areas in the data transmission system. Both are under investigation, but no clear conclusion has yet been reached or remedial action identified and unfortunately none is expected in the near term.
The Hinode team is developing procedures to minimize the impact of this problem including greater data compression, adding additional ground stations and implementing an alternate data transmission scheme. The team is also developing observational programs streamlined for scientific efficiency and comprehensiveness. Nevertheless the problem will have a significant impact on the way the mission is operated. One of the near term impacts is the ability to accommodate observations by non-team members through the HOP (Hinode Operation Plan) process. Consequently we have imposed a one month moratorium on all HOPs that will extend through March 31, 2008. Although observing proposals are still encouraged, they will undergo greater scrutiny before approval than has been the case up to now. Scientists wishing to propose HOPs should plan for smaller data volumes than those previously allowed. Although larger data sets can be accommodated, strong scientific justification will be required for them to be accepted into the planning process. If a proposal is accepted the Scientific Schedule Coordinators will assign a team member to assist in scaling the observations to acceptable levels.
It is difficult to place a time on when a return to normal operations may be expected but it appears that this is a long rather than a short term problem. In the meantime high quality Hinode observations are continuing to be obtained by all three instruments, SOT, XRT, and EIS. We hope that you will continue to use the Hinode data in your research and bear with us while we work to resolve this problem.
A technical review of the anomaly is being prepared by JAXA and will be available shortly. (Hinode is a joint JAXA/NASA/UK/ESA mission.)