Solid state detectors with pulse height discrimination measure proton, alpha-particle, and electron fluxes. E1 and I1 channels are responding primarily to trapped outer-zone particles. The I2 channel may occasionally respond to trapped particles during magnetically disturbed conditions. The remaining proton integrals measure fluxes originating outside the magnetosphere from the Sun or the heart of the Galaxy.Users of GOES particle data should be aware that significant secondary responses may exist in the particle data, i.e. responses from other particles and energies and from directions outside the nominal detector entrance aperture. The integrated protons displayed in these plots have been partially corrected for these effects. The electron detector responds significantly to protons above 32 MeV. Electron plots from GOES-8 to GOES-12 use data that have been corrected for this, earlier plots use uncorrected data. All electron data become unreliable during ion storms.

The GOES Solar X-ray Imager is integrated into the GOES-12 satellite, whose primary mission is to provide Earth-weather monitoring. The SXI is operated by NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). NOAA's Space Environment Center (SEC) receives the telemetry stream directly from SXI, processes the data, and integrates the observations into their space weather alert and forecast services. The data are sent in real time to NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly National Geophysical Data Center) where they are immediately made available to the public, and preserved in a secure archive for future research. SXi was launched in with GOES-M on July 23, 2001 Post Launch Test data were available from August - December 2001.SXI officially entered operations in April 2003.

Listings and characterizations of solar x-ray flares

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) monitors the geospace and solar environments using a variety of space weather sensors aboard its fleet of operational satellites.

Scientists monitor the structure of the solar corona, the outer most regions of the Sun's atmosphere, using radio waves (100’s of MHz to 10’s of GHz). Variations in the radiowave spectrum reveal characteristics of the corona and upper chromosphere in terms of altitude profile for the local plasma temperature, density and magnetic field. Typically, the lower the frequency then the higher the height of origin. The frequency, like the solar electron density, decreases uniformly outwards with 245 MHz originating high in the corona whereas 15,400 MHz originates in the low corona. Radio bursts are associated with solar flares. The delay at Earth of the different radio frequencies during burst events is due to the outward movement of the source. Bursts can have temperatures of 10xE12 degrees Kelvin. Large bursts last 10 to 20 minutes on average. Longer radio noise storms of persistent and variable high levels of radiation originate in sunspot groups, areas of large, intense magnetic fields. These storms are strongly circularly polarized due to the intense magnetic fields. The microwave wavelength 2800 MHz daily radio flux correlates highly with the daily sunspot number and the two databases are used interchangeably. The 2800 MHz, or 10.7 cm, responds to the same conditions that produce changes in the visible and X-ray wavelengths. Schmahl and Kundu (1995) find that the solar radio fluxes in the spectral range 1000-9400 MHz correlate well with the total solar irradiance. The intermediate frequencies (at 2800 and 3750 MHz) are produced mainly by free-free gyroresonance emission from sunspot structures, while 1000 and 9400 MHz flux are produced mainly by free-free processes from structures associated with plages. They can distinguish plage-associated emission from spot-associated emission in the time series of microwave flux, both contributing opposing effects on the total solar irradiance.

Collection includes a variety of indices related to solar activity contributed by a number of national and private solar observatories located worldwide. This metadata record is currently under construction.[SolarIndices A]

Collection includes a variety of indices related to solar activity contributed by a number of national and private solar observatories located worldwide. This metadata record is currently under construction.[SolarIndices A]

The Solar X-Ray Imager (SXI) instrument onboard GOES 12-15 is an X-ray telescope used for the early detection of solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and space phenomena that impact flight and satellite communications. The Solar X-ray Imager was the first X-ray telescope to record a 'full-disk' image of the Sun, thus providing forecasters with the ability to detect solar storms and issue real-time solar forecasts. The SXI instrument records coronal images in continuous sequence at 1-minute intervals. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) received the SXI telemetry stream directly from GOES satellites, processed the data, and integrated the observations into space weather alerts and prediction services. This data collection includes Level-0 (L0) and Level-1b (L1b) SXI data from GOES 12-15. The temporal period of record (POR) extends from August 2001 to March 2020. The data are provided in FITS and PNG formats, and are accessible via direct download from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). The data were produced by SWPC and are archived with NOAA's Comprehensive Large Array-Data Stewardship System (CLASS).

Solar Indices Bulletin is a prompt monthly information product that is distributed within two weeks after the observation month closes. For the month just ended, this 2-page circular tabulates daily values of sunspot numbers and 10.7 cm solar radio flux observed at Penticton (previously at Ottawa); flux measurements at eight other wavelengths are included. Page 2 of the Bulletin gives a table of smoothed monthly mean sunspot numbers for the current solar cycle--a table that begins with smoothed observed values for each month and ends with predictions.