SPACE PHYSICS INTERACTIVE DATA RESOURCE (SPIDR) ANNOUNCEMENT

The Solar-Terrestrial Physics Division (STPD) of the NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) announces the release of the Space Physics Interactive Data Resource (SPIDR) system. The SPIDR system is an on-line system to search, browse and access space weather data sets archived at NGDC and the co-located World Data Center A for Solar-Terrestrial Physics. The data sets include ionospheric data, Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite images, and geomagnetic data. The on-line user selects the data type, date, and location. The system then searches the relational database, retrieves the requested data, and delivers an image to the user over the World Wide Web. The SPIDR system is continuously being tested and revised. New features and data will be added.

Web users can plot geomagnetic variation data from 32 observatories worldwide. The effect of geomagnetic activity on the aurora can be quickly assessed through links to the DMSP browse imagery.

Web users may select imagery by date and location from DMSP's worldwide satellite coverage. Button controls then allow users to "fly" one of four DMSP satellites about the globe. DMSP imagery displays aurora, city lights, fires, and cloud coverage.

While the SPIDR system includes geomagnetic and DMSP data, our main interest lies with the ionospheric data. Currently one full solar cycle's data (January 1985 through July 1995) are available. The database comes from several data sources. At the beginning of each month NGDC receives real-time preliminary data from the NOAA Space Environment Laboratory Data Acquisition and Display System (SELDADS) for the previous month and places it in the SPIDR database. Data received from the individual stations are quality controlled and the resulting data are copied over the real-time data. The user chooses the month and year from the pull-down menus and clicks the map in the region of interest. The closest station with data available is automatically selected and plotted. The plot displays the foF2 parameter and monthly median. Additional parameters will be available in the near future.

The user may also choose to generate a World Wide Contour Plot, a model of the global ionosphere. The user selects the month and year. The SPIDR system then displays a color contour map of maximum electron density calculated from the month and sunspot number.