SORCE SOLSTICE: Lyman-Alpha Solar Irradiance As-Measured Cadence

Daily measurements of solar Lyman-alpha irradiance are collected by the SOLSTICE instrument aboard the SORCE satellite, with 15 orbits per day. The data includes variables for irradiance, uncertainty, spacecraft position, and x-ray fluxes, stored in yearly netCDF files with over 3000 measurements per day. Its high cadence and spectral resolution of 0.1 nm support detailed analysis of solar activity and its impact on Earth's upper atmosphere.

Use Cases

• Tracking solar activity cycles based on daily Lyman-alpha irradiance measurements.
• Correlating solar x-ray flux with Lyman-alpha emission for flare studies.
• Modeling atmospheric photochemistry using precise solar spectral irradiance data.
• Validating satellite instrument performance by analyzing measurement repeatability.

Strengths

• High temporal resolution with measurements taken during 15 daytime orbits per day.
• Detailed per-measurement metadata includes irradiance, uncertainty, repeatability, and spacecraft telemetry.
• Cross-platform presence on datagov and nasa_earthdata indicates established use and importance.

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts: last updated date is reported as 2026-04-09 on datagov but 2012-10-30 on nasa_earthdata.
• Column names and exact row counts are not specified in the provided metadata.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without further detail.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements gathered by the SOLSTICE instrument aboard the SORCE satellite.

Freshness

2026-04-09 20:32:14.800915

Geography

Global, from satellite orbit.