Meteospace, a New Instrument for Solar Survey at the Calern Observatory

High-cadence observations of solar activity (active regions, flares, filaments) in the H α line were performed at Meudon and Haute Provence Observatories from 1956 to 2004. More than 7 million images were recorded, mainly on 35 mm films. After a review of the scientific interest of solar surveys at high temporal resolution and the historical background, we describe the new instrument which will operate automatically in 2020 at the Calern station of the Côte d’Azur observatory (1270 m). It will replace the former heliographs with improved cadence, seeing and time coverage. We summarize the capabilities of the optical design and present new scientific perspectives in terms of flare onset and Moreton wave detection.