NGDC/WDC STP, Boulder-Sunspot Region Data via FTP from NGDC


NOAA > NESDIS > NGDC > stp > solar	comments \| privacy policy

SOLAR SUNSPOT REGIONS

1.) Sunspot region data (positions, areas, etc.) from solar observatories: Catania, Kandilli, Mt. Wilson, Rome, Russian observatories, Taipei, Tashkent, USAF network, Voroshilov and Yunnan

2.) Greenwich Heliophysical Observatory (UK) Archives 1874-1976

3.) Debrecen Heliophysical Observatory (Hungary) Data -- Follow-on to Greenwich data, 1977-present

4.) Sunspot Region Tilt Data from Mt. Wilson and Kodaikanal Observatories 1917-1985

Sunspot Regions (All ftp)

For many years solar observatories have been tracking sunspot regions as they move across the solar disk. Daily measurements are made of the sunspot group positions, magnetic classification, maximum magnetic field strength, group number, Zurich class, Penumbra class, compactness class, number of spots, longitudinal extend in degrees, total spot areas, individual spot areas, etc. Greenwich Heliophysical Observatory began a routine monitoring progam in 1874 and continued until 1976, followed by the Debrecen Heliophysical Observatory program.

NGDC has compiled here a number of stations' databases for use in studying the ever changing face of the Sun.

1.) Sunspot region data (positions, area, etc.) from solar observatories

1a. Catania (Italy) Sunspot Region Data 1978-1999 -- descriptive text
- Catania format (ASCII)
  - 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987
  - 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
1b. Kandilli (Turkey) Sunspot Region Data 1995-present
- 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
- 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

1c. Mt. Wilson (California, USA) Sunspot Region Data 1962-August 2004 -- reduced sunspot region data ceased in September 2004.
- Data format -- print before viewing data
  - 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
  - 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

1d. Rome (Italy) Sunspot Region Data 1958-present
- Description of sunpot region data and summary data
- Daily summary sunspot area data--apparent and corrected umbral and total areas (in yearly files)
- Format of daily summary sunpot area data -- print before viewing data
  - 1958 1959
  - 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
  - 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
  - 2000
- Daily sunspot region reports (in yearly files)
- Format of sunpot region data -- print before viewing data
  - 1958 1959
  - 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
  - 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
  - 2000
1e. SGD Table Sunspot Region Data 1969-1982
- Data appeared in the monthly report Solar-Geophysical Data (SGD) for many years -- combination of sunspot region data and Calcium plage data in merged format
  - Format of sunpot region data
    - 1969
    - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
    - 1980 1981 1982
1f. Taipei (Taiwan) Sunspot Region Data 1964-present
- Description of sunpot region data and summary data
- Daily summary sunspot area data--apparent and corrected umbral and total areas (in yearly files)
- Format of daily summary sunpot area data -- print before viewing data
  - 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
  - 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
- Daily sunspot region reports (in yearly files)
- Format of sunpot region data -- print before viewing data
  - 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
  - 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
1g. Tashkent (Uzbekistan) Sunspot Region Data 1998-present
- Daily sunspot region data-- corrected total areas (in yearly files)
- Format of daily sunpot area data -- print before viewing data
  - 1998 1999
  - 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
1h. USAF SOON sites (Holloman, Learmonth, Ramey, San Vito ) and Mt. Wilson Sunspot Region Data 1981-present
Descriptive text (in PDF) -- Data are reduced from daily sunspot drawings, using a sunspot area overlay and a sunspot area position correction overlay.
- Daily sunspot region data -- corrected areas (in yearly files)
- Format of daily sunpot region data -- print before viewing data
  - 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
  - 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
  - 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
1i. USSR Stations Data (from SOLAR DATA--Solnechyi Dannyue ) Sunspot Region Data 1968-1991
- Daily sunspot region data -- corrected areas (in yearly files)
- Format of daily sunpot region data -- print before viewing data
  - 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
  - 1990 1991
1j. Voroshilov (Russia ) Sunspot Region Data 1998-present
- Daily sunspot region data -- corrected areas (in yearly files)
- Format of daily sunpot region data -- print before viewing data
  - 1998 1999
  - 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
1k. Yunnan (People's Republic of China) Sunspot Region Data 1981-1992
- Description of sunpot region data and summary data
- Daily summary sunspot area data--apparent and corrected umbral and total areas (in yearly files)
- Format of daily summary sunpot area data -- print before viewing data
  - 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
  - 1990 1991 1992
- Daily sunspot region reports (in yearly files)
- Format of sunpot region data -- print before viewing data
  - 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
  - 1990 1991 1992

2.) Greenwich Heliophysical Observatory Archives 1874-1982

The data on this website were generated initially by Fred Ward, USAF AFCRL, and updated by Doug Hoyt while a visiting scientist at NOAA. Please note that another version of the Greenwich data can be found at Solar White Light Faculae and Sunspot Areas. These data were keyed in by NGDC in a data rescue effort in 1999 and are being quality controlled in-house.
Description of sunpot region data and summary data
- 2a. Annual sunspot area data--apparent and corrected umbral and total areas of sunspots and faculae
  - Format of annual sunpot area data -- print before viewing data
  - Annual mean sunpot area data
  - By hemisphere, annual mean sunspot area data and mean latitude
- 2b. Monthly sunspot area data--apparent and corrected umbral and total areas of sunspots and faculae
  - Format of monthly sunpot area data -- print before viewing data
  - Monthly mean sunpot area data
- 2c. Daily summary sunspot area data--apparent and corrected umbral and total areas of sunspots and faculae (in yearly files)
  - Format of daily sunpot area data -- print before viewing data
  - Note that Greenwich closed in 1976. Data after 1976 are from the USAF network.
    - 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879
    - 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
    - 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
    - 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
    - 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
    - 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
    - 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
    - 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
    - 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
    - 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
    - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
    - 1980 1981 1982
- 2d. Daily sunspot region data--apparent and corrected umbral and total areas of sunspots and faculae (in yearly files)
  - Format of daily sunpot region data -- print before viewing data
  - Note that Greenwich closed in 1976. Data after 1976 are from the USAF network.
    - 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879
    - 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889
    - 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
    - 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
    - 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
    - 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
    - 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
    - 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
    - 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
    - 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
    - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
    - 1980 1981

3.) Debrecen Heliophysical Observatory (Hungary) Archives -- Follow on to Greenwich archives
NOTE -- these data are mirrored from the Debrecen website

3a. Debrecen Photoheliographic Data (DPD) -- detailed database -- 1986-1989, and 1993-1997
NOTE -- Debrecen is developing a new interactive website for these data and solar images
- Descriptive overview of database (README.txt)
- More information about the files (NEWS.txt)
- Recent paper discussing current status of data reduction (pdf)
- Journal paper "Debrecen Photoheliographic Data for 1986 (pdf) -- in J. Astron. Data, 1998
- Journal paper "Debrecen Photoheliographic Data for 1987 (pdf) -- in J. Astron. Data, 2000
  - Data listings -- final
    - 1986 1987 1988 1989-partial final
    - 1993 1994 1995 1996
  - Data reduction in progress
  - Images
    - 1986-fits 1986-jpg 1987-fits 1987-jpg 1988-fits 1988-jpg 1989-fits 1989-jpg
    - 1993-fits 1993-jpg 1994-fits 1994-jpg 1995-fits 1995-jpg 1996-fits 1996-jpg
3b. Debrecen Photoheliographic Results (DPR) -- very detailed database 1977-1978
- 1977 data:
  - Introduction (introduc.txt)
  - Description of the files (README.txt)
  - Additional explanatory material (explan.txt)
  - Additional notes about the sunspot groups in 1977 (notes.txt)
  - Summary of sunspot activity for 1977 and tables of mean areas and latitudes
    - General catalog of every sunspot group
    - Catalog of recurrent sunspots observed in two or more consecutive disk passages
  - 1977 daily sunspot region data (sunspot areas, position, etc.) by Carrington rotation number
    - Carrington rotations 1650 1651 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662
- 1978 data:
  - Introduction (introduc.txt)
  - Description of the files (README.txt)
  - Additional explanatory material (explan.txt)
  - Additional notes about the sunspot groups in 1978 (notes.txt)
  - Summary of sunspot activity for 1978 and tables of mean areas and latitudes
    - General catalog of every sunspot group
    - Catalog of recurrent sunspots observed in two or more consecutive disk passages
  - 1978 daily sunspot region data (sunspot areas, position, etc.) by Carrington rotation number
    - Carrington rotations 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670 1671 1672 1673 1674 1675 1676
3c. Historical Solar Image Database (HSID) -- Daily white light full disk images from Kalocsa, Hungary 1880-1919
- Information about the images
  - ftp access by year to the image files:
  - 1880 1883 1884 1885 1880 1887 1888
  - 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
  - 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
  - 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

4.) Sunspot Region Tilt Databases 1917-1985

4a. Mt. Wilson Sunspot Region Tilt Data -- Raw data files, sunspot group data, and individual sunspot data
- Descriptive text -- Mount Wilson Sunspot Data Notes
- 4aa. Mt. Wilson Raw Data Files 1917-1985
  - 1917 1918 1919
  - 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
  - 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
  - 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
  - 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
  - 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
- 4ab. Mt. Wilson Sunspot Group data 1917-1985
  - 1917 1918 1919
  - 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
  - 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
  - 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
  - 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
  - 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985
- 4ac. Mt. Wilson Individual Sunspot data 1917-1985
  - 1917 1918 1919
  - 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
  - 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
  - 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
  - 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
  - 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985

4b. Kodaikanal Sunspot Region Tilt Data -- Sunspot group data, and individual sunspot data
- Descriptive text -- Mount Wilson Sunspot Data Notes
- 4ba. Kodaikanal Sunspot Group data 1906-1987
  - 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
  - 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
  - 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
  - 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
  - 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
  - 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
  - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
  - 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987
- 4bb. Kodaikanal Individual Sunspot data 1906-1987
  - 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 </