Historical SWPC Data Notices

GOES 10 Decommissioning Dec 1, 2009
GOES 14 Becomes Primary Satellite for XRS data
No Secondary Satellite for X-rays or Electrons and Protons

November 17, 2009 -- On Tuesday, 01 December, the GOES 10 satellite will be officially decommissioned. At that time, GOES 14 will replace GOES 10 as the Primary SWPC GOES X-ray Satellite.  Since the XRS data ceased from GOES 11 and GOES 12, there has been no Secondary SWPC GOES X-ray Satellite. With the decommissioning of GOES 10, there will also be no Secondary Satellite for Electrons and Protons. There should be only minor differences in the appearance of the XRS data and only at the lowest flux levels.

Changes to the GOES XRS Data 

The GOES 10 and GOES 14 XRS instruments have very different electronics and therefore, there will be some qualitative changes in the appearance of the data.  The main difference will be the level of noise in the data at the lowest values.  When the background levels are low (less than 2E-7 W/m2 or A2.0), the GOES 10 data looks flat and the steps are very abrupt.   At these low flux levels, the GOES 14 data will be quite noisy.  As the x-ray flux levels rise up above 2E-7, the noise will decrease and the plots will look very similar to the GOES 10 data. 

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Global D-Region Absorption
Replacing original D-region Absorption Prediction product

October 19 -- On November 18, 2009, the Global D-Region Absorption Prediction product will be replace the original D-region Absorption Prediction product. The original D-region web page and products were developed at the then Space Environment Center in 2000.

SWPC Outage Complete

July 16, 2009 -- SWPC systems were down for approximately 3 hours for a network system upgrade.

US-TEC data outage

May 20-26, 2009 the US-TEC model output was not on the SWPC web site due to technical difficulties. This problem has been fixed as of 1800 UTC, May 26.

3- 7-, and 30-day STEREO IMPACT Energetic Particle Plots Online

December 16 , 2008 -- SWPC is now making 3 day, 7 day, and 30 day plots of STEREO IMPACT energetic particle data available.  A new feature on the 30 day plots is the dashed vertical line indicating data from 27 days prior to the plot generation time.  This is convenient for comparing corotating structures from one rotation to the next.  Similar plots for the magnetic field data are expected soon

GOES 11 Becomes Primary Electron Satellite, GOES 10 Secondary Satellite

December 1, 2008 --On Friday, 28 November, the GOES 12 Electron sensor began experiencing periods of noisy data. Therefore, GOES 11 has been designated the SWPC GOES Electron Satellite and GOES 10 the Secondary.

The electron detector provides three energetic particle channels: >0.6 MeV electrons, >2 MeV electrons, and 15-40 MeV protons. These data are the basis for alerts and warnings that help to mitigate satellite failures due to spacecraft charging and to mitigate the radiation hazard encountered by astronauts during space walks.

GOES 11 Proton, Electron, and Magnetometer Outages Through Eclipse Season

April 14 , 2008 -- Beginning March 12, GOES 11 Proton, Electron and Magnetometer instruments was turned off during eclipse periods. Maximum eclipse times were March 18 0835 to 0945 UT. GOES 11 eclipse seasonended April 10.

GOES 10 X-ray Outages During Eclipse Season

April 14 , 2008 -- GOES 10 X-ray outages due to spacecraft eclipse season started Feb 20 and ended April 5. Maximum eclipse duration reached about 65 minutes on March 11. X-ray sensors (XRS) are not operational on other GOES satellites to fill in for the GOES-10 eclipses.

GOES 10 X-ray Outages During Eclipse Season

Feb 21, 2008 -- GOES 10 X-ray outages due to spacecraft eclipse season started Feb 20 and will continue for about 40 days (April 1). Maximum eclipse duration will reach about 65 minutes peaking in the middle of the interval (March 11). Currently, X-ray sensors (XRS) are not operational on other GOES satellites to fill in for the GOES-10 eclipses.

GOES 10 Becomes Primary X-ray Satellite, no Secondary Satellite

February 11, 2008 -- GOES 11 X-ray data has been unavailable since Feb. 10. The expectation is that GOES 11 X-rays will remain unavailable. Other GOES 11 data is still available.

GOES 10 has been moved to the primary SWPC X-rays data. There is no secondary GOES X-ray data at this time. GOES 10 data resumed at 1630 UT Feb 10 and will continue indefinitely.

No GOES 10 Data Beginning December 17, 2007

December 18, 2007 -- GOES-10, the SWPC secondary GOES Satellite for X-ray and Proton data, is again not being tracked at SWPC due to antenna problems. SWPC GOES-10 tracking is expected to resume in early February.
GOES-10 data products continue to be created, but with missing data values.

GOES 12 Data Resumes After December 5-17, 2007 Outage

December 18, 2007 -- GOES 12 was unavailable at SWPC from 1010UT December 5 until 2040UT December 17, 2007 due to antenna problems at SWPC.

GOES 12 Outage Continues

December 6, 2007 -- GOES 12 has been unavailable since December 5, 1010UT, but there are still expectations of a recovery. If GOES 12 fails SWPC will change the GOES Magnetometer and Electron satellite designations to GOES 11 and GOES 10.

Unexpected GOES 12 Outage
Primary GOES Satellite for Magnetometer and Electron may change Dec 6

December 5, 2007 -- An unexpected GOES 12 outage began at 1010UT. The problem is being investigated and may be resolved soon. If GOES 12 data is not available by late tomorrow the SWPC Primary GOES Satellite for Magnetometer and Electron data will be changed to GOES 11 or 10.

No GOES 10 X-ray and Proton Data Nov 21 - Dec 5, 2007

December 5, 2007 -- GOES 10 tracking was restarted in response to the unexpected GOES 12 outage.
November 21, 2007 -- GOES-10, the SWPC secondary GOES Satellite for X-ray and Proton data, is not being tracked at SWPC due to an antenna problem. GOES-10 data lists will continue to be written with missing data values. GOES-10 satellite tracking at SWPC is expected to resume in 6 to 8 weeks (January 2-16).

SWPC Auroral Activity Products Enhanced
with MetOp-02 Satellite Data

December 4, 2006 -- The SWPC Auroral Activity products were updated to include data from the NOAA Space Environment Monitor (SEM) onboard the European MetOp-02 satellite. The MetOp-02 satellite is a polar orbiting satellite carrying meteorological instruments developed by NOAA and the French Space Agency (CNES). The Space Environment Monitor (SEM) is a heritage instrument flown previously on the NOAA Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) that measures energetic protons and electrons entering the atmosphere. The SEM data is used to provide information about the location and intensity of the auroral oval. The inclusion of the new data enhances the temporal and spatial coverage of the existing auroral products with now five satellites sampling the polar regions.

SWPC Solar Cycle Products Include Solar Cycle 24 Prediction

November 15, 2007 -- The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has updated its solar cycle product to include the official prediction for the next solar cycle. The official International Space Environment Service (ISES) prediction for solar cycle 24 was released in early 2007. The ISES prediction was issued by a panel chaired by a SWPC representative. It is important to note the panel has only issued a preliminary prediction and has released two separate predictions; a high prediction for sunspot maximum of 140 and a low prediction for sunspot maximum of 90. In the official SWPC product, the average of the two predictions is used. In the near term the two predictions are very similar, with the average not differing from either prediction by more than a SSN of 1 until October, 2008.

The two individual predictions released by the panel are also available from the SWPC solar cycle web page. It is expected the panel will release a consensus ISES prediction sometime during the early phase of solar cycle 24. At that time, the SWPC product will again be updated with the new prediction.

Real-time solar wind and particle data
from the STEREO Beacon online

November 5, 2007 -- Data from the NASA STEREO mission in-situ instruments can now be viewed at the SWPC web site.  Plots showing the solar wind plasma properties and the energetic electrons and protons measured at each STEREO satellite are updated in near-real-time are accessible from the SWPC STEREO Web site.

The STEREO mission consists of two spacecraft that are in heliocentric orbits leading and lagging the Earth. Each spacecraft provides a unique observing vantage point, and taken together, they enable a stereoscopic view of the Sun, solar activity, and the solar environment between the Sun and Earth. The STEREO mission studies the Sun and heliosphere with 4 suites of instruments. This web site brings you data from two of the instruments, the PLAsma and Supra Thermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) Instrument and the In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients (IMPACT) Instrument. These two instruments provide measurements of the solar wind plasma, particles, magnetic field, and solar energetic protons, all quantities that are of significant use in forecasting space weather.

The near-real-time data, known as the Space Weather Beacon, from STEREO is a compressed, binned, subset of the full science data. The beacon data are broadcast continuously, and if no ground station is listening, the data will not be available until the full science data is dumped. The science data comes down once per day. Note: NOAA is not the general provider of STEREO data, the NASA STEREO project is. STEREO data that is not available on this web site, can be retrieve from the STEREO project.

Space Environment Center
Changes Name to
Space Weather Prediction Center

On October 1, 2007 the NOAA Space Environment Center changed its name to the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).  The center is one of the nine National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)within NOAA's National Weather Service. The new name aligns the space weather center with the other NCEP centers and more clearly conveys its operational nature.

SWPC.noaa.gov is the new domain for web access (www.swpc.noaa.gov) and Anonymous FTP. The old domain, sec.noaa.gov, will continue to work for the foreseeable future. The simple web URL spaceweather.gov is also available.

The new name began appearing in web pages and product headers October 1. Web pages use NOAA web formatting standards and some have an updated look and feel, but the data displays and content did not change. Text and graphical products headers use Space Weather Prediction Center (or SWPC), but there were no changes to the file formats or content.

GOES-12 SXI and XRS Out of Commission Indefinitely

Impact: on XRS: GOES 11 designated Primary GOES satellite and GOES 10 Secondary. Routine GOES-12 XRS observations suspended indefinitely.

Impact on SXI: Routine GOES-12 SXI observations suspended indefinitely.

Aug 24, 2007 -- On 12 April 2007 the ability to point the SXI and XRS solar sensors aboard the GOES-12 spacecraft was lost due to the failure of a component in the electronics box that controls the north-south motion of both instruments. Although the SXI and XRS instruments continue to function, the Sun now enters the field of view only for a brief period twice a year at the equinoxes.

Since it appears highly unlikely that the pointing functionality can be ever be recovered, routine GOES-12 SXI and XRS observations have been suspended indefinitely. Some limited imaging may be attempted for engineering purposes during the equinoxes, but there is no plan at present to reactivate SXI and XRS in operational mode.

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GOES 12 X-Ray Sensor (XRS) and Solar X-ray Imager (SXI) data not available

Impact: on XRS: GOES 11 designated Primary GOES satellite and GOES 10 Secondary

Impact on SXI:  No SXI data available at this time

April 16, 2007 -- Due to an anomaly in the GOES 12 X-Ray Positioning Electronics box the GOES 12 satellite cannot point the XRS and SXI at the sun, nor can it process the XRS data that normally would pass through it. Thus, no GOES 12 XRS data  have been available at SEC since April 12, 2250 UTC and SXI data is not being distributed due to its poor pointing. SEC has changed its Primary and Secondary XRS satellite designations to GOES 11 and GOES 10 respectively. There may be minor differences between GOES XRS sensors but the differences should not affect products. There are no other SXI sensors operating and thus, there are no alternative solar x-ray image data available on the SEC web site.

GOES 12 SXI Images May Return

February 7, 2007 -- A few GOES 12 SXI images were put online. Work continues on a resolution.

Sept 20, 2006 -- An anomaly occurred with the GOES 12 SXI instrument at approximately 19:35UT on Sept 18 in which the amount of stray light in each of the filter positions increased significantly. This is indicative of the failure of at least one additional front entrance filter (one had failed in Nov, 2003). The SXI was commanded to Safe mode at 15:31 UT on Sept 19 as a precaution. An investigation is underway. Preliminary discussions indicate a significant change to the way SXI is operated may be necessary.

Proton event contamination of ACE Solar Wind Data ends

December 13, 2006: Recent solar energetic proton events contaminated the ACE SWEPAM instrument data resulting in incorrect solar wind density, speed, and temperature values being reported by SEC. The latest contamination started at about 0340 UTC on 13 December and ended at about 2000 UTC 13 December as energetic proton fluxes subsided. See GOES Proton Plot for current conditions. ACE RTSW MAG, EPAM, and SIS data were unaffected.

Proton event contamination of ACE Solar Wind Data ends

December 8, 2006: Recent solar energetic proton events contaminated the ACE SWEPAM instrument data resulting in incorrect solar wind density, speed, and temperature values being reported by SEC. This contamination started at about 0700 UTC on 07 December and ended about 1930 UTC on 08 December as energetic proton fluxes subsided. See GOES Proton Plot for current conditions. ACE RTSW MAG, EPAM, and SIS data were unaffected.

Enabling automatic updating web pages in IE7

December 7, 2006: The recently released Microsoft Internet web browser Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) has a default setting that disables automatic web page refreshes. SEC automatic updating web pages are effected. To enable <META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh"

In IE7, select Tools, Internet Options, Security, Custom Level.
Scroll to the Scripting section near the bottom
Enable "Allow websites to prompt for information using scripted windows"

Please report IE7 or other browser problems to SWPC.Webmaster@noaa.gov

June 22, 2006 -- As the secondary SEC GOES satellite for energetic protons, GOES 10 data will not be available at SEC for about two weeks beginning on June 23, because its telemetry frequency will be changed to avoid conflicting with GOES 11 transmissions. There will be two additional periods (approximately 10 - 14 days) when GOES 10 data will not be available, as GOES 10 drifts past GOES 13 and GOES 12. GOES 10 is expected to reach its destination of 60 degrees West by October 2006.

SEC Secondary GOES Spacecraft Change
effective June 22, 2006

At 1400UT, June 22, the SEC secondary GOES satellite for magnetometer, X-ray, and electron measurements changed from GOES 10 to GOES 11. GOES 12 remains the primary SEC GOES satellite. For energetic proton measurements there was no change; GOES 11 remains the primary SEC GOES satellite and GOES 10 the secondary. SEC products that include magnetometer, X-ray, and electron measurements from the secondary SEC GOES satellite changed at that time. See the SEC GOES Satellite page.

SEC GOES Satellite Designations
Detector	Primary	Secondary
Proton	GOES 11	GOES 10
Magnetometer, X-ray, Electron	GOES 12	GOES 11
Solar X-ray Imager	GOES 12	none

Operations on the GOES 12 Solar X-Ray Imager (SXI) were not impacted by these changes. There is no secondary SXI until GOES 13 is activated.

This change is necessary because NOAA will be activating GOES 11 as the operational satellite stationed at 135 degrees West geographic longitude in geosynchronous orbit, replacing the aging GOES 10. GOES 11 will be formally declared GOES West on June 28. GOES 11, in storage mode at 105 degrees West longitude, has been obtaining energetic proton measurements to compensate for the failed detector on GOES 12 (W75). GOES 11 will continue to provide these data. GOES 11 will also now provide solar disk-integrated X-ray measurements and in situ magnetic field, and electron measurements. Pending the successful checkout of GOES 13, and the successful arrival of GOES 11 at 135 degrees West, GOES 10 will be moved to 60 degrees West. The GOES 10 drift maneuver will begin on June 30 with a drift rate of 0.6 degrees per day. GOES 10 is expected to be in its new location by October 2006. This change means it is necessary to reassign secondary designations for the GOES Space Environment Monitor (SEM) detectors.

June 15, 2006 -- GNU Wget is a free software package for retrieving files using HTTP, HTTPS and FTP, the most widely-used Internet protocols. Its a non-interactive command line tool, so it may be called from scripts, cron jobs, terminals without X-Windows support, etc. GNU Wget has many features to make retrieving files from web or FTP sites easy. GNU Wget runs on most UNIX-like operating systems as well as Microsoft Windows, and is included with most LINUX distributions.

Example: Retrieve the Solar Region Summary and store it in a directory called "latest" relative to the users current directory.

wget --ignore-length -N -O latest/SRS.txt http://www.SWPC.noaa.gov/ftpdir/latest/SRS.txt

--ignore-length This flag prevents problems with incorrect content length

-N Turns on timestamping. This switch will cause the file to be retrieved only when it has changed on the server.

-O (upper case 'O') This switch is used to specify the output filename in this case latest/SRS.txt

There are many other options. Refer to wget manual

The UNIX cron utility may be used to schedule wget retrievals. For example, to retrieve the Solar Region Summary report the following command would connect to the web server at 5:40pm and 8:40pm. In this case the '-q' switch has been added which suppresses output from wget. Check with your crontab documentation for specific syntax. Also, it may be necessary in some installations to include a full path to wget executable.

40 17,20 * * * wget --ignore-length -Nq -O /tmp/latest/SRS.txt http://www.SWPC.noaa.gov/ftpdir/latest/SRS.txt

ACE RTSW SWEPAM Data Improvement

June 2, 2006 -- The ACE RTSW SWEPAM data processing was updated at 0000 UTC on June 1, 2006. This change will result in improved solar wind parameters (speed, density, and temperature) that more closely match ACE Science Center data. ACE RTSW MAG, EPAM, and SIS data are unaffected.

NWS Termination of ACE Solar Wind Data
Comment period April 3 - May 18, 2006

Gopher Service Discontinued

May, 2005 http://www.SWPC.noaa.gov/ftpmenu/index.html is the alternative to gopher:// protocol

June 2, 2005 Gopher Service Discontinued
Gopher service was interrupted May 7 during the major network and computer problems. We have since decided to discontinue Gopher services. The Gopher interface is available from a
web browser at http://SWPC.noaa.gov/ftpmenu Gopher customers can contact us if this service is critical.

SEC experienced major network and computer problems May 7. Most systems were restored by May 9, but a few network connections and SEC products are still unavailable. Remaining products will resume as corrections are completed.

Most FTP content has been restored except for the following.

• A few POES Hemispheric Power Input (HPI) and Belt Indices (BI) data files. The near real time POES plots and their related data files are updating.
• The SOLAR2000 - Solar irradiances and E10.7 Nowcast
• The NOAA Mg II daily Index

A new "warehouse" FTP directory has been created for historical products from 1996 up to the current day. The following products are in yearly .tar.gz files.

Products:
Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity (RSGA),
Solar Region Summary (SRS),
Solar and Geophysical Activity Summary (SGAS),
World Warning Agency GEOALERT (GEOA),
Edited Solar Events

Solar Indices as ascii text files: Daily Solar Data, Daily
Geomagnetic Data, and Daily Particle Data

Plots for GOES Electrons, GOES Hp, GOES Protons, GOES X-rays,
Estimated Planetary Kp, and the SWPC Satellite Environment.

See the FTP server ftp.SWPC.noaa.gov at /pub/warehouse or
via a web browser at http://SWPC.noaa.gov/ftpdir/warehouse

SEC has a new Product Subscription Service (PSS) for email delivery of our products. The PSS system replaces the Majordomo List Server and the Space Weather Alerts email service. Both older services will continue through April.

PSS is an online, interactive system that allows you to register and then subscribe to the variety of email products. There are even new products. Go to https://pss.SWPC.noaa.gov/ and register. Older products are now online, see Products from 1996 at FTP Warehouse.

SEC Offers New Experimental Ionospheric Product

November 1, 2004 - The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center and NOAA National Geodetic Survey released an experimental ionosphere product to help emergency managers and other users quickly assess the effects of solar storms on Global Positioning System applications. The USTEC map aids users affected by ionospheric conditions-GPS applications, surveyors, emergency managers, and others-to quickly assess the current situation that may impact their systems. See NOAA news story Nov. 1, 2004

August 24, 2004 ACE MAG Data Processing Change
ACE MAG data processing was updated at 0000 UTC on 24 August, 2004. This update should result in improved RTSW magnetic field values that more closely match ACE Science Center data.

ACE Telemetry Masked May 30 - June 2, 2004

May 14, 2004 ACE NOTICE
The ACE spacecraft will be close in front of the Sun from about May 30-June 2, 2004. During that time the telemetry will be masked by solar radio noise, and we will have no solar wind plasma, magnetic field, or particle data.

April 22, 2004 -- More Near Real-time Ionospheric Stations Reporting
Data Lists for additional near real-time Ionospheric stations are online, and more stations are expected over the next year. SEC currently receives data from 52 stations, and 45 report in SAO format. See Ionospheric Data Lists

Mar, 2004 Boulder Colorado, Mawson Antarctica, Bear Lake Utah, & Tromso Norway
Feb, 2004 Grahamstown, Louisvale, and Madimbo from South Africa.

February 4, 2004-- ACE RTSW EPAM Data Channel Change
Real-time proton data from the EPAM LEMS30 instrument has been replaced with similar proton data from the LEMS120 sensor. The new proton channels cover the following energy ranges: 47-68 keV, 115-195 keV, 310-580 keV, and 1.06-1.9 MeV. Previous real-time electron (38-53, 175-315 keV) and proton (0.761-1.22 MeV) data from the EPAM CA60 telescope remain unchanged. Plots and Data Lists of 5-minute and 1-hour averaged data were backfilled to January 29, 2004. Additional information concerning these new data can be found in the ACE Lists README file or via anonymous FTP: ftp.SWPC.noaa.gov cd /pub/lists/ace get README

Switchover rescheduled to Feb 4, 2004

January 15, 2004 ACE RTSW EPAM Data Changes
SEC is proceeding to switch the ACE RTSW EPAM proton data processing to another sensor. The operational switch over to the new sensor data has been reschedule to February 4, 2004. It is anticipated that the following proton energy ranges will be available: 47-68 keV (P1'), 115-195 keV (P3'), 321-587 keV (P5'), and 1060-1900 keV (P7').

November 12, 2003 -- As a result of the last two weeks of high solar activity several of the RTSW EPAM proton channels have become abnormally high and have shown excessive noise. As a result the data from the 65-112 keV (P2), 112-187 keV (P3), and 310-50 keV (P5) energy channels have been removed from the real-time plots and lists. The 1060-1910 keV (P7) channel remains but has also begun to show noise. The 761-1220 (W1) proton channel and electron channels, being from another EPAM sensor, have been unaffected. SEC is investigating the switch to another EPAM proton sensor for its RTSW data stream.

January 5, 2004 -- New "X-RAY FLARE" Event Type
GOES Solar X-ray Imager (SXI) flare (XFL) reports were added to Edited Solar Events Lists on January 5. Edited Events lists from Jan 1 have been reprocessed to included XFL reports. See "Information about Edited Events" in the Solar Event Reports directory (/events/README) for more details.

November 3, 2003 -- ACE EPAM Data Problems
On October 29 the ACE EPAM 65-112 keV (P2) and 112-187 keV (P3) energy channels became spuriously high following the onset of a large solar energetic particle event and have not returned to nominal values. In addition, the 310-580 keV (P5) channel became elevated and erratic on November 1 and 2 during a second solar energetic particle event. The P5 channel appears to have recovered; however, this does not preclude similar problems in the future. The EPAM instrument team and SEC are investigating the cause of these problems and a possible cure. Look for more information here as information becomes available.

November 2, 2003 -- ACE SOLAR WIND DATA CONTAMINATED
A solar energetic proton event is contaminating the ACE SWEPAM instrument data resulting in incorrect solar wind density, speed, and temperature values being reported. The contamination begin Nov 2 at 1820 UTC. See GOES PROTON PLOT

October 28, 2003 -- ACE SOLAR WIND DATA CONTAMINATED
A solar energetic proton event is contaminating the ACE SWEPAM instrument data resulting in incorrect solar wind density, speed, and temperature values being reported. The contamination begin Oct 28 at 1242 UTC. See GOES Proton Plot

July 21, 2003 -- SEC Solar Image Web Pages and File Ending September 1, 2003
After 10 years, SEC is replacing their solar images web pages) with a new Solar Image Sites References web page. The new page will contain links to solar image sites used by SEC Space Weather Operations in their routine analysis of solar activity. Watch for the new page in August. The solar image pages and files are scheduled to end September 1, 2003.

SEC is making these changes because the number of sites used by SEC for our current web pages has decreased and fewer images are being offered. There are now many other web sites with high-quality, near-real-time solar images, from a variety of ground-based and space-based sources.

The static filenames for the current h-alpha images will also end September 1:

current_fdha_stamp.gif and current_fdha.gif
current_region_stamp.gif and current_region.gif

SEC has static filenames for current solar x-ray coronal structure images from the NOAA GOES SXI Imager. See SXI Static Filenames links and description .

Summer 2003 -- GOES Designation Changes

Background (May 15, 2003)

The GOES 10 energetic proton detectors are showing intermittent, high noise levels in the higher energy proton channels (greater than about 80 MeV). This problem was first noticed in data taken April 26, 2003. (see data plot from this time period). Further analysis revealed that the noise spikes were occurring on the P6 and P7 proton channels and a similar spike was observed at around the same time for several days. These noise spikes occurred late in the UT day and coincided with temperature peaks on the Dome subassembly on the energetic particles sensor (EPS). This pattern is very similar to problems experienced on the P6 and P7 particle channels on the GOES 12 EPS Dome detector prior to their failure earlier this year. The loss of data from the P6 and P7 channels significantly impacts the integral proton flux products above about 10 MeV (e.g., >10 MeV, >50 MeV, and >100 MeV). The P6 channel also impacts our electron measurements; a correction algorithm using proton counts from P6 is applied to the electron count rate to take into account contamination from protons.

General GOES Information -- The electron measurements will differ somewhat between GOES 10 and GOES 12. This difference is due to the different geomagnetic latitudes of the two spacecraft. Both GOES 10 and GOES 12 are located on the geographic equator, but due to the tilt of Earth's dipole magnetic field, GOES 10 (at 135 degrees west longitude) is at a lower geomagnetic latitude than GOES 12 (at 75 degrees west longitude). Because of the different geomagnetic latitudes, GOES 10 on average measures a larger electron flux than GOES 12. The relative variations in flux from time to time are roughly similar at the two spacecraft locations.

June 19, 2003 -- To ensure continued operational monitoring of important energetic particle data, it is necessary to reassign primary/secondary designations for the GOES Space Environment Monitor (SEM) detectors. Beginning 1700 UTC on June 19, GOES 11 (105W) will become the primary satellite for protons. GOES 12 (75W) will continue as the primary satellite for magnetometer, X-ray, and electron measurements. GOES 10 (135W) will be the secondary satellite for all SEM sensors - magnetometer, X-ray, and energetic particles. Because of the degraded state of the proton data on GOES-10, its designation as the secondary source for proton data is a short-term solution. More permanent solutions have been identified and are being evaluated. Users will be notified when we define and schedule a permanent fix.

Users should be aware that GOES 11 is in a storage mode at 113W. Because of the recent problems on the EPS detectors on GOES 10 and 12, we are forced to take the unprecedented action of activating the EPS sensor (for operational purposes) on a storage satellite - GOES 11. The GOES-11 EPS Dome detector does not appear to be experiencing the problems encountered with both the GOES 10 and 12 domes. However, the satellite is spinning in storage mode, with a nine- minute spin period; consequently, there will likely be short outages when the transmit antenna is hidden by the spacecraft body. These outages have diurnal and seasonal variations that are difficult to assess, but data loss is expected to be minimal. This spin mode will likely produce small variations in the measured fluxes due to the changing look direction of the sensors.

The electron processing algorithm has been modified in response to the high noise level that recently developed in the GOES 12, P6 proton channel. A correction algorithm is applied to the electron count rate to take into account contamination from protons. The standard correction algorithm uses proton counts from the P3, P4, P5, and P6 channels. The modified correction algorithm no longer uses data from the P6 channel. As a result, the proton correction algorithm gives a smaller correction at all times. The electron fluxes will not be as low during time periods of flux minima, and the correction will not be as extreme during large proton events. For a greater than 2 MeV electron flux of 100 particles/(cm²-s-sr), this modification will result in a flux reduction of roughly 10%. For an electron flux of 1000 particles/(cm²-s-sr), the modification will be roughly a 1% flux reduction.

Operations on the Solar X-Ray Imager (SXI) on GOES-12 will not be impacted by these changes. There is no secondary SXI.

May 15, 2003 -- The GOES 10 energetic proton detectors are showing intermittent, high noise levels in the higher energy proton channels (greater than about 80 MeV). This pattern is similar to problems experienced on the GOES 12 EPS Dome detector prior its P6 and P7 channel failures earlier this year. The loss of the P6 and P7 channels significantly impacts SEC's integral proton flux products above about 10 MeV (e.g., >10 MeV, >50 MeV, and >100 MeV). Therefore, the energetic proton detectors on the GOES 8 satellite is being used for the next 2-3 month.

April 8, 2003 --GOES Satellite Changes -- SEC stopped using GOES 8 data. GOES 10 is now SEC's primary GOES satellite, with GOES 12 the backup for non-SXI data: magnetometer, XRS x-ray measurements, and energetic particles. SXI is only available from GOES 12.

Correction to X-ray Background Flux Calculation

November 4, 2002 Dr. Rodney Viereck, e-mail: Rodney.Viereck@noaa.gov

In October, 2002 SEC determined that its Daily GOES X-ray Background Flux calculation was incorrect. The values were corrected as of 22 October 2002. Archives of the daily background values both at SEC and at NGDC will be corrected in due course.

It was brought to our attention that the Daily GOES X-ray Background Flux calculation at the Space Environment Center was not correct. The computed values seemed too high. After a quick look at the values and the original data, it was agreed that indeed, there was something wrong. Further investigation showed that the code used for calculating the background flux was using 5-minute X-ray data instead of 1-hour X-ray data.

Historical Note: The X-ray Background Flux was developed in the early 1980s as a measure of the background solar x-ray flux. The algorithm for calculating this daily background flux is weighted towards the middle of the day for time series analysis and for comparisons with the solar F10.7 flux index, which is measured at local noon.

Daily GOES X-ray Background Flux algorithm:

This algorithm was implemented incorrectly, using 5-minute average values instead of 1-hour average values. Thus, the X-ray background was calculated using only the first two hours of the day. Most of the time, this provided values that were not far from the true background X-ray value, but when a long-duration flare occurred at the beginning of the UT day it could introduce significant errors of an order of magnitude or more. Further investigation uncovered that this error has been in place since at least 1987.

The daily X-ray background flux values have been corrected as of 22 October 2002. The archive of the daily background values both at SEC and at NGDC will be corrected in due course.

GOES X-ray Background Flux appears in several SEC products: Solar and Geophysical Activity Summary, Daily Solar Data , Yesterday's Space Weather Values , Preliminary Report and Forecast of Solar Geophysical Data

August 23, 2002 -- The USAF stopped producing the Magnetometer Analysis Reports, FOR SECONDARY STATIONS ONLY.

July 1, 2002 -- SEC stopped running the Operational Magnetospheric Specification Model. The Predictive MSM based on the Costello Geomagnetic Activity Index test product, is online.

June 14, 2002 Solar Region Number Sequence
The latest SEC Solar Region Number is 9998, and is expected to reach 10,000 this weekend. SEC products will continue to use 4-digit region numbers, with leading zeros. The sequencing for Solar Region Numbers will be: 9998, 9999, 0000, 0001,...

May 24, 2002 USAF stops issuing the 27-day Solar Radio Flux Forecast

Alternatives 10.7cm Solar Radio Flux Forecasts are The SEC 27-Day Outlook of 10.7cm Flux, Ap, and largest Kp list (with other forecasts)
The USAF 45-Day AP and F10.7cm Flux Forecast at (last 20)

May 24, 2002 -- The USAF stops producing the Auroral Oval Analysis Plot
On May 23, the USAF stopped production of the Auroral Oval Plot.

The information contained in this bulletin will be depicted in a graphical format on USAF web pages at HTTPS://WEATHER.AFWA.AF.MIL OR HTTP://SAFWIN.OFFUTT.AF.SMIL.MIL The new format is NOT available on the SEC FTP server. If you have questions or concerns please contact HQ AFWA/XORC AT DSN 271-1631 OR COMMERCIAL (402) 294-1631.

May 3, 2002 -- Solar Region Number Sequence -- The SEC Solar Region Number, currently at 9936, is expected to reach 10,000 in the next 60 days. SEC products will continue to use 4-digit region numbers, with leading zeros. The sequencing for Solar Region Numbers will be: 9998, 9999, 0000, 0001

March 2002 -- New Space Weather Alerts
SEC Space Weather Alerts were redesign to provide the following improvements:

• New message formats that enhance readability and support automatic decoding
• Alerts issued when a threshold is crossed, instead of after standard time intervals, or end of the event
• New "Summary" products issued after the end of some events
• New alerts that match higher thresholds defined in the NOAA Space Weather Scales
• Dynamic SEC Alerts web pages with current alerts status, displays of alerting data, links to related data, alert archive logs, and online help.

March 2002 -- WWV (Geophysical Alert Message) FORMAT CHANGE
The WWV message format changed. See the WWV description web page. This affected all distribution methods: Web, Anonymous FTP, e-mail, and NWS Direct Distribution Systems.

March 2002 -- Space Weather Products on NWS Direct Distribution Systems, including the NOAA Weather Wire Service
Space Weather products distributed on NWS Direct Distribution Systems have NWS header and minor format changes. Some users saw two new products: Space Weather Advisory Outlooks and Bulletins. See the Space Weather Products on NWS Direct Broadcast Systems web page. This affected subscriber of the SEC e-mail list and NWS direct distribution system users, including the NOAA Weather Wire Service

May 2001 -- SCDR Report Discontinued
The Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Coronal Distrubance Report (SCDR) was discontinued on May 9. The NOAA Weather Wire "Summary of Space Weather Observations" and "Space Weather Event Reports" are affected by the loss of Coronal reports. SCDR references on this page have been removed, and the sample Weather Wire products show the new format.

October 2000 -- Text Product Changed to Mixed-Case Text

October 2, 2000 SEC began issuing its text products in mixed cases instead of all upper case. Only the case of the text in each product changed, not the format or spacing within the product.

Joint USAF/NOAA products -- Solar Region Summary, Solar and Geophysical Activity Summary, Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity, Highlights and Forecast of Solar andGeophysical Data

NOAA Weather Wire Space Weather products -- Summary of Space Weather Observations, Space Weather Event Reports, Daily Space Weather Summary and Forecast, Seven-day Space Weather Highlights, Twenty-seven day Space Weather Forecast

Rules for Mixed Case Text Products
Upper case is used for

1. Acronyms, e.g., NOAA, USAF, HSTRY, SITS, SOONSPOT, GOES, ACE, CME
2. The first letter of major words in the title of message, e.g., Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity
3. Roman numerals, e.g., I, and IV
4. Section identifiers for each message, e.g., IIA. and D.
5. The first letter of major words following section identifiers, e.g., I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 06/2400Z
6. The first letter for column headings, e.g., Begin, Max, and End
7. The first letter of sentences
8. First letter of descriptions for missing data or observations, e.g., None or No data or No observations

Rules for space weather terms

• Coordinates - N22W41 (North 22 degrees, West 41 degrees)
• Flare classification - Sf (Sub faint)
• Xray classification - M5 (5 * M flare level)
• Sunspot classification - Hsx
• Magnetic classification - Beta-gamma
• Abbreviations for elements - He (Helium)
• Wavelength - EUV, Xray
• Exponents - 7.1e-07
• Coordinated Universal Time - UTC, UT, or Z
• Time qualifiers - B (Before), A (After), U (Unknown)