Hinode/EIS Revised Plan
When solar activity suddenly increases, the Hinode team may want to implement a specific observation as soon as possible (e.g. flare-dedicated).
Observing plans are usually uploaded to EIS three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On these days, the Chief Observers (CO) can request to change the observing plan to the new flaring target. Flare dedicated observations are then uploaded in the new plan as normal.
The situation is more complicated on non-upload days since an observing plan is already running on board the spacecraft. One possibility is to change the spacecraft pointing to the new target. This is done by updating the spacecraft tracking curves in the evening contact passes. Any observation that is time-tagged to run after the evening passes will continue as before, but the pointing will be on the adjusted track. The EIS CO should consider whether the EIS studies are appropriate for the new target, e.g., changing from active region to active region may be OK, but changing from coronal hole to flaring region may not be. Note that it is not possible to changed spacecraft fixed pointings.
Upon request from the COs, and with their input, the Hinode Chief Planner (CP) can also revise the contents of the observing plans on board, i.e. the EIS studies on the time-line can be changed. This is called a "Revised Plan". In order to do this, there need to be sufficient evening contact passes to upload a new plan and EIS observations table. Several key personnel also need to be present. This will be discussed in the daily meeting.
If the decision is made to go ahead, the EIS CO needs to modify the studies on the time-line and re-run CPT for the time-period that is to be changed. When re-running CPT, the 'Start' and 'Stop' times should cover the period that is being revised. Note, however, that the 'Upload Time', 'OP/OG Upload Pass No.', and 'OBSTBL Upload Pass No.' should be taken from the original plan. Further details of the procedures are given on the appropriate remote planning guide walkthrough pages (specifically the stages Plan Submission and Post-Submission).
In summary:
- Changing "target" (for example, one flaring AR to another more active AR) may not require modifying the currently running plan. Only a spacecraft pointing change will be made.
- Changing "target type" (e.g. CH to AR) will require a modified plan (revised plan).
If for whatever reason the EIS CO decides that they do not want to participate in a revised plan (for example, the beginning of the current plan is intentionally overloaded and the corresponding estimated telemetry use is well above the target) the CP should be informed. The CP can stop EIS observations from running (EIS will remain in an idle state for the duration of the revised plan).
