New Look for the Online Solar Databases at NGDC

Author: Helen E. Coffey
Affiliation: NOAA National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder, Colorado

The NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Web site at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov is undergoing a new presentation design. The ftp site for the solar data will have a Web interface to help users understand the different kinds of data available. A myriad collection of old and new solar databases resides on the ftp site. This can make it difficult for users to locate data of interest. The new display includes an overview of the data sets included in each data type. For example, under Solar Flares one can find the H-alpha flares and observatory patrol times, the X-ray flare listings, and a flare index data set from Lomnicky Solar Observatory. The Web page will include a list of these, the dates of these observations, and links to the descriptive text and data files. Because of the extent of the databases, this will be an ongoing project for some time. The final product will be a more user friendly interface to access the available data. These data can be used to investigate the activity on the Sun and its effects on the Earth’s environment. The monthly report Solar-Geophysical Data (SGD) is now available in PDF format at http://sgd.ngdc.noaa.gov. Sample Web pages will be presented. Feedback is encouraged.