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]

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]

A solar flare is a short-lived sudden increase in the intensity of radiation emitted in the neighborhood of sunspots. For many years it was best monitored in the H-alpha wavelength and occurs in the chromosphere, though occasionally white light flares are seen in the photosphere. In modern times the solar X-ray wavelengths are monitored via satellite for solar flares. Flares are characterized by a rise time of the order of minutes and a decay time of the order of tens of minutes. The total energy expended in a typical flare is about 1030 ergs; the magnetic field is extraordinarily high reaching values of 100 to 10,000 gauss. Optical flares in H-alpha are usually accompanied by radio and X-ray bursts and occasionally by high-energy particle emissions. The optical brightness and size of the flare are indicated by a two-character code called "importance." The first character, a number from 1 to 4, indicates the apparent area. For areas of less than 1, an "S" is used to designate a subflare. The second character indicates relative brilliance: B for bright, N for normal and F for faint. A general discussion of solar flares is found in Svestka [1976]. The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly NGDC) holds archives for about 80 stations, covering the period 1938 to the present. Currently 5 stations send their data to NGDC Boulder on a routine monthly basis -- the current main observing emphasis for Space Weather has transitioned to Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) which directly impact the Earth's geomagnetic field. Solar flares impact the Earth's upper atmosphere and can eject high energy particles that can cause satellite failures. The flare reports were processed and published in the monthly report "Solar-Geophysical Data" and in a different format in the IAU "Quarterly Bulletin on Solar Activity."

A short-lived sudden increase in the intensity or radiation emitted in the neighborhood of sunspots monitored in H-alpha.

Solar x-ray flux data.

Prominences and filaments are two manifestations of the same phenomenon. Both prominences and filaments are features formed above the chromosphere by cool dense gases held in place by solar magnetic fields. Filaments are observed on the solar disk as dark structures as seen against the hotter chromosphere whereas prominences on the limb appear bright against the perspective of outer space. The scale sizes for prominences and filaments are typically many thousands kilometers. Solar observers typically view prominences and filaments in Hydrogen alpha (656.3 nm). Filaments are sometimes referred to as floccule (plural of flocculus). Prominences and filaments can rapidly form over a period of a day but then typically persist for several weeks and, in some cases, several months. At breakup the gases within these previously stable structures may be explosively released into space in the form of a coronal mass ejection (CME). Space weather operators have and continue to monitor the location and character of prominences and filaments as potential precursors on near-earth geomagnetic activity. (Browse image provided courtesy of http://www.greatdreams.com)

This Climate Data Record (CDR) contains total solar irradiance (TSI) as a function of time created with the Naval Research Laboratory model for spectral and total irradiance (Version 2.1). Version 2.1 improves the scientific quality of the earlier Version 2.0 based on new research to achieve high accuracy and improved understanding of uncertainties with the Solar Irradiance CDR. Total solar irradiance is the total, spectrally integrated energy input to the top of the Earth's atmosphere, at a standard distance of one Astronomical Unit from the Sun. Its units are W per m2. The dataset was created by Judith Lean (Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory), Odele Coddington and Peter Pilewskie (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Colorado). The daily- and monthly-averaged TSI data range from 1882 to the present, and annual-averaged TSI data begin in 1610. The data file format is netCDF-4 following CF metadata conventions. The dataset is accompanied by algorithm documentation, data flow diagram and source code for the NOAA CDR Program.

*Note: This dataset version has been superseded by a newer version. It is highly recommended that users access the current version. Users should only use this version for special cases, such as reproducing studies that used this version.* This Climate Data Record (CDR) contains solar spectral irradiance (SSI) as a function of time and wavelength created with the Naval Research Laboratory model for spectral and total irradiance (version 2). Solar spectral irradiance is the wavelength-dependent energy input to the top of the Earth's atmosphere, at a standard distance of one Astronomical Unit from the Sun. Its units are W per m2 per nm. Also included is the value of total (spectrally integrated) solar irradiance in units W per m2. The dataset was created by Judith Lean (Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory), Odele Coddington and Peter Pilewskie (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Colorado). The daily- and monthly-averaged SSI data range from 1882 to the present, and annual-averaged SSI data begin in 1610. The data file format is netCDF-4 following CF metadata conventions. The dataset is accompanied by algorithm documentation, data flow diagram and source code for the NOAA CDR Program.

This Climate Data Record (CDR) contains total solar irradiance (TSI) as a function of time created with the NASA NOAA Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) (NNL) Version 1 model for total, spectral and high-resolution spectral solar irradiance. The CDR Version 3 improves the scientific quality of the earlier version, version 2.1, based on new research from several NASA Solar Irradiance Science Team activities, from improved accuracy, precision and stability of solar irradiance observations made by the TSIS-1 mission, and from operational and improved sources for facular brightening and sunspot darkening proxies. Total solar irradiance is the total, spectrally integrated energy input to the top of the Earth's atmosphere, at a standard distance of one Astronomical Unit from the Sun. Its units are W per m2. The dataset was created by Odele Coddington, Judith Lean, and Peter Pilewskie (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Colorado). The daily- and monthly-averaged TSI data range from 1874 to the present, and annual-averaged TSI data begin in 1610. The data file format is netCDF-4 following CF metadata conventions. The dataset is accompanied by algorithm documentation, data flow diagram and source code for the NOAA CDR Program.