Design and on-orbit calibration of the solar ultraviolet imager (SUVI) on the GOES-R series weather satellite

The GOES-R series is the latest in a long line of American geostationary weather satellites operated by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) is an instrument onboard Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, GOES-R series, part of NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) space weather monitoring fleet. GOES-16 SUVI is in operation and the GOES-17 SUVI has completed initial calibrations. SUVI is a generalized Cassegrain telescope with a large field of view that employs multilayer coatings optimized to operate in six extreme ultraviolet (EUV) narrow bandpasses centered at 9.4, 13.1, 17.1, 19.5, 28.4 and 30.4 nm. The SUVI EUV line set provides the best comprehensive feature and dynamics information for revealing and correlating both the low coronal signatures of coronal mass ejections (CME) triggers (for example, flares) and the high coronal signatures of the actual CME. SUVI acquires full disk images in EUV band pass every few minutes and telemeters the data to the ground for digital processing. These data will enable NOAA to monitor solar activity and to issue accurate near real-time alerts when space weather may possibly affect the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems and human endeavors. This paper describes key design drivers in the development of SUVI, methods used in the autonomous on-orbit calibration of the instrument, and the automated monitoring of the health and safety of the instrument during operations.