SOLAR/SOLSPEC: Scientific Objectives, Instrument Performance and Its Absolute Calibration Using a Blackbody as Primary Standard Source

SOLAR is a set of three solar instruments measuring the total and spectral absolute irradiance from 16 nm to 3080 nm for solar, atmospheric and climatology physics. It is an external payload for the COLUMBUS laboratory launched on 7 February 2008. The mission’s primary objective is the measurement of the solar irradiance with the highest possible accuracy, and its variability using the following instruments: SOL-ACES (SOLar Auto-Calibrating EUV/UV Spectrophotometers) consists of four grazing incidence planar gratings measuring from 16 nm to 220 nm; SOLSPEC (SOLar SPECtrum) consists of three double gratings spectrometers, covering the range 165 nm to 3080 nm; and SOVIM (SOlar Variability Irradiance Monitor) is combining two types of absolute radiometers and three-channel filter – radiometers. SOLSPEC and SOL-ACES have been calibrated by primary standard radiation sources of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). Below we describe SOLSPEC, and its performance.