SOR3XPSD: Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Irradiance Daily Means

NASA's SORCE satellite provides daily solar spectral irradiance measurements in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and Lyman-alpha wavelengths. The dataset contains median and mean irradiance values, uncertainties, and instrument metadata for seven specific wavelength bands, reported at 1 AU. Its primary use is for modeling solar influence on Earth's upper atmosphere and space weather forecasting.

Use Cases

• Modeling thermospheric density and satellite drag based on solar EUV flux.
• Calibrating and validating other solar irradiance instruments using the provided accuracy and precision metrics.
• Studying solar cycle variability in specific EUV bands, such as Lyman-alpha (121-122 nm).
• Analyzing long-term instrument degradation trends using the included degradation model and version columns.

Strengths

• Provides explicit accuracy (12-30%) and long-term repeatability (1% per year) metrics for the irradiance data.
• Contains detailed metadata columns, including calculation precision, degradation model, and data version number.
• Data is normalized to a standard solar distance (1 AU) and zero relative velocity, enabling direct comparison.

Limitations

• Key metadata like row count, file size, and specific license terms are missing or conflicting across platforms.
• The data is provided in broad wavelength bands (7-10 nm resolution), limiting spectral detail.
• The dataset's temporal coverage is not specified in the provided metadata.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), SORCE satellite XPS instrument.

Collection Method

Satellite-based photometer measurements processed to Level 3 daily means.

Freshness

2026-04-09 (from datagov platform)