STEREO-B SECCHI HI Level 2: Solar Heliospheric Images

STEREO-B SECCHI HI Level 2 FITS files produced by the UK Solar System Data Centre, calibrated and background subtracted. Filenames encode observation date, time, instrument (HI-1 or HI-2), spacecraft (STEREO-A or STEREO-B), and a 1-11 day running window for background subtraction. The data likely contains processed images of the solar heliosphere.

Use Cases

• Analyze solar wind and coronal mass ejections based on calibrated, background-subtracted heliospheric images.
• Study temporal evolution of solar features based on images tagged with precise observation dates and times.
• Compare observations from different instruments based on filename codes for HI-1 and HI-2.
• Model the F-corona (dust component) based on the Buffinton/RAL background subtraction method described.
• Validate spacecraft data processing pipelines based on Level-2 calibrated FITS files.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated and background subtracted, indicating a processed scientific product.
• Filenames provide structured metadata including observation date (e.g., 20140101), time (e.g., 180501 UT), instrument (HI-1/HI-2), and spacecraft (STEREO-A/STEREO-B).
• Background subtraction method is specified as a full running window using the lowest quartile of pixels.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Produced by the UK Solar System Data Centre from STEREO-B SECCHI instrument data.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 10:54:44.979317; freshness should be verified.