The STEREO Mission (Springer Study Edition Series)

C. T. Russell Originally published in the journal Space Science Reviews, Volume 136, Nos 1–4. DOI: 10. 1007/s11214-008-9344-1 © Springer Science+Business Media B. V. 2008 The Sun-Earth Connection is now an accepted fact. It has a signi cant impact on our daily lives, and its underpinnings are being pursued vigorously with missions such as the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory, commonly known as STEREO. This was not always so. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that Edward Sabine connected the 11-year geomagnetic cycle with Heinrich Schwabe’s deduction of a like periodicity in the sunspot record. The clincher for many was Richard Carrington’s sighting of a great whi- light are on the Sun, on September 1, 1859, followed by a great geomagnetic storm 18 hours later. But was the Sun-Earth Connection signi cant to terrestrial denizens? Perhaps in 1859 it was not, but a century later it became so. Beginning in the 1930’s, as electrical powergrids grew in size, powercompanies began to realize that they occasionally had power blackouts during periods of intense geomagnetic activity. This correlation did not appear to be suf ciently signi cant to bring to the attention of the public but during the International Geophysical Year (IGY), when geomagnetic activity was being scrutinized intensely, the occurrence of a large North American power blackout during a great magnetic storm was impossible to ignore. C. T. Russell Originally published in the journal Space Science Reviews, Volume 136, Nos 1–4. DOI: 10. 1007/s11214-008-9344-1 © Springer Science Business Media B. V. 2008 The Sun-Earth Connection is now an accepted fact. It has a signi cant impact on our daily lives, and its underpinnings are being pursued vigorously with missions such as the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory, commonly known as STEREO. This was not always so. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that Edward Sabine connected the 11-year geomagnetic cycle with Heinrich Schwabe’s deduction of a like periodicity in the sunspot record. The clincher for many was Richard Carrington’s sighting of a great whi- light are on the Sun, on September 1, 1859, followed by a great geomagnetic storm 18 hours later. But was the Sun-Earth Connection signi cant to terrestrial denizens? Perhaps in 1859 it was not, but a century later it became so. Beginning in the 1930’s, as electrical powergrids grew in size, powercompanies began to realize that they occasionally had power blackouts during periods of intense geomagnetic activity. This correlation did not appear to be suf ciently signi cant to bring to the attention of the public but during the International Geophysical Year (IGY), when geomagnetic activity was being scrutinized intensely, the occurrence of a large North American power blackout during a great magnetic storm was impossible to ignore. From the reviews: " ... Here we have a book which we can wholeheartedly suggest. The mathematics is sound and pared to essentials; the examples are an impressive, well-chosen selection from the biomathematics literature, and the problem sets provide both useful exercises and some fine introductions to the art of modeling ... Batschelet has written an introduction to biomathematics which is notable for its clarity - not only a clarity of presentation, but also a clarity of purpose, backed by a sure grasp of the field ..." #Bulletin of Mathematical Biology#1 "For research workers in the biomedical field who feel a need for freshening up their knowledge in mathematics, but so far have always been frustrated by either too formal or too boring textbooks, there is now exactly what they would like to have: an easy to read introduction. This book is highly motivating for practical workers because only those mathematical techniques are offered for which there is an application in the life sciences. The reader will find it stimulating that each tool described is immediately exemplified by problems from latest publications." #Int. Zeitschrift für klinische Pharmakologie, Therapie und Toxikologie#2 The STEREO mission uses twin heliospheric orbiters to track solar disturbances from their initiation to 1 AU. This book documents the mission, its objectives, the spacecraft that execute it and the instruments that provide the measurements, both remote sensing and in situ. This mission promises to unlock many of the mysteries of how the Sun produces what has become to be known as space weather