SOHO UVCS: Solar Corona Spectroscopic Measurements

The UltraViolet Coronagraph Spectrometer (UVCS) on the SOHO spacecraft measures plasma parameters of the solar corona from its base to 10 solar radii. It records electron temperatures, ion densities for O+5, Mg+9, Si+11, and Fe+11, and flow velocities of the electron/proton plasma and minor ions. This dataset, produced by NASA, likely contains spectral line intensity and profile measurements across wavelengths from 114.8 nm to 600.0 nm.

Use Cases

• Model coronal heating mechanisms based on electron temperature measurements.
• Analyze solar wind acceleration processes based on proton and ion flow velocities.
• Characterize coronal source regions based on ion density measurements for O+5, Mg+9, Si+11, and Fe+11.
• Study thermal and nonthermal processes based on line profile measurements of H I Lyman alpha.
• Map coronal phenomena controlling solar wind properties based on polarized radiance measurements of the visible corona.

Strengths

• Data covers a wide observational range from the solar limb to 10 solar radii.
• Instrument can rotate its field of view to observe any segment of the corona within 10 solar radii.
• Spectrometer sections are optimized for specific wavelengths, including H I Lyman alpha (114.8-128.3 nm) and O VII (103.2 nm).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data files are in BIN and HTML formats, which may require specialized tools for analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Observations from the UltraViolet Coronagraph Spectrometer instrument on the SOHO spacecraft.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:45:10.749969; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Solar corona