DATA DESCRIPTION

ACE EPAM data

These ACE EPAM (Electron, Proton&  Alpha Monitor) daily,
spin-averaged He fluxes are given in 12 energy windows between
0.443-0.531 and 3.28-3.93 MeV/n.  They were prepared and
provided by T.P. Armstrong at Fundamental Technologies, LLC,
and are accessible, along with equivalent C, O, Ne, Si and Fe
fluxes, at http://data.ftecs.com/VHO/VEPO/ace_epam/pha/spectra/.
On 2/2/2012, a newly FunTech-reprocessed version of the data,
having revised fluxes and energy bin ranges, was swapped into
this MSSP interface and into the FTPBrowser interface at
http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/ace_epam_flux_1d.html.
For background, see the ACE EPAM home page at JHU/APL at
http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/ACE/EPAM/
and see the ACE EPAM web pages at FunTech at
http://ace.ftecs.com/index.html

ACE SIS data

These ACE SIS (Solar Isotope Spectrometer; Caltech) hourly
He fluxes are given in 8 energy windows between  3.4-4.7 and
28.4-41.2 MeV/n.  They are from the "Level 2" data set accessible
from the ACE Science Center and from CDAWeb.  The L2 data
set contains fluxes of 14 elements from Z=2 (He) to Z=28 (Ni).
The instrument is described at
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/CRIS_SIS/sis.html
The data set is described at
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/level2/sis_l2desc.html
and references therein.

ACE ULEIS data

The ULEIS (Ultra Low Energy Isotope Spectrometer) on ACE measures
ion fluxes over the charge range from He through Ni from about 20 keV/n
to 10 MeV/n.  The instrument and its diversity of available data products
are extensively discussed at http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/ACE/ULEIS/.  Key
Investigators are Glenn Mason, Rob Gold and George Ho at JHU/APL.
ULEIS Level 2 data consist of hourly and daily averaged fluxes and
statistical uncertainties of H, He3, He4, C, O, Ne-S, and Fe.  These data
have long been accessible from the ACE Science Center at
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/level2/index.html.
Descriptions of the Level 2 data are at
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/level2/uleis_l2desc.html
and updated release notes are at
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/DATA/level2/uleis_v2/uleis_release_notes
The Level 2 hourly fluxes of H (5 energy bands between 0.16 and 7.24 MeV)
and He4 (15 energy bands between 0.063 and 8.67 MeV/n) have been
taken from ASC for inclusion in the Multi-Source Spectral Plot (MSSP)
interface and a companion FTPBrowser interface at
http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/ace_ule_hr.html.
Separately, L2 fluxes of H, He4, C, O, and Fe are taken from ASC for
a new high-Z MSSP version now in development and a companion
FTPBrowser interface at http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/ace_ule_all_hr.html.
CAVEAT: depending on flux levels ULEIS spectra above ~1 MeV/nucleon may
show turn ups which are background and should be discarded.  This effect is
stronger when intensities are low.


GOES data

Hourly fluxes of protons and alpha particles as measured by the
NOAA GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites) are
taken from the NOAA/NGDC site at http://satdat.ngdc.noaa.gov/sem/goes/data/new_avg/.
At 6.6 Re, the spacecraft are inside, but near (when on the day side), the
Earth's magnetopause, so GOES energetic particle fluxes are representative
of fluxes in the nearby interplanetary medium at all but the lowest
energies measured.

We have taken proton fluxes in 7 energy bins, 0.6-4.0, 4.0-9.0, ...
165-500 MeV, and alpha particle fluxes in 6 energy bins,
4-10, ... 300-500 MeV/n.  All channels except the lowest-energy
proton channel show little or no magnetospheric signature.

As the GOES 8 and 11 data sets are described by NOAA as having the
same energy bins, we have created a single data set spanning 1995-2010
from their data.  Data up to 2003/168 are from GOES 8, and thereafter from
GOES 11.  GOES 13 energy bins are described as slightly different, so we
have created a single GOES 13 data set that we will extend as new data
become available.  There is an 8-month overlap between the two data sets
in 2010.

The full hourly-averaged data sets are available with subset, plot and list
functionalities from data set-specific FTPBrowser interfaces at
http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/goes08_11_hr.html and
http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/goes13_hr.html.  These interfaces
display the energy bin ranges.  For inclusion in the Multi-Source Spectral
Plot (MSSP) interface (that otherwise includes no magnetospheric fluxes),
we exclude the lowest proton energy channel fluxes due to their strong
magnetospheric signature.


Helios 1&2 E6 data.

These data were originally provided to NSSDC by
Principal Investigator Horst Kunow, U. Kiel.
These are nominally 1-hour resolution differential
fluxes, and Poisson uncertainties associated with each,
for protons in 4 energy bands (4-13, 13-27, 27-37,
37-51 MeV) plus an integral proton channel (>51 MeV),
for alpha particle fluxes and uncertainties in 5
energy bands (2-4, 4-13, 13-27, 27-37, and 37-48 MeV/n)
plus an integral channel>48 MeV/n, and finally for
electrons in the two energy bands 0.3-0.8 and 0.8-2
MeV.  The data are further described at
ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/helios/
helios1/particle/e6_kunow/h-a-cr.txt and references
therein.  Manipulations carried out on the data
to facilitate usage are described at
ftp://omniweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/helios1/flux/
helios_e6_flux_descr.txt.


Helios 1&2 E7 data.

These datasets  were recently created by Dr. Nand Lal
of the original PI's team (PI: James Trainor, NASA/GSFC)
These are 30-min resolution differential fluxes,
and uncertainties associated with each,
for protons in 7 energy bands (3.4-6.05, 6.05-11.1,
11.1-21.6, 24.52-28.82, 32.0-46.3, 46.3-57.22,
135.2-206.5 MeV), and for alpha particle fluxes and
uncertainties in 6 energy bands (3.2-4.98, 4.98-11.50,
11.5-21.6, 24.51-31.12, 31.12-45.53, 45.53-57.53
MeV/n). The data set also includes many additional
count rates including two for electrons in the energy
bands 2-4 and 4-8 MeV.  Creation of a subsetted data set
containing just the fluxes and rates mentioned above
intended to facilitate usage are described at
ftp://omniweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/helios1/flux/
helios_e7_flux_descr.txt.


IMP 8 CRNC data (U.Chi./UNH)

This data set consists of hourly fluxes of protons, electrons and alpha
particles in three species-specific subdirectories, and of hourly count
rates of "heavies" in a fourth subdirectory  The fluxes are based on
count rates pulled to GSFC/SPDF from UNH in 2011 and converted by the
equation F = CR / [2.05 * (E2-E1)], where 2.05 is the geometric factor
relevant to all the rates and fluxes and E1,E2 are the bounds of the
relevant energy band.  See
ftp://ulysses.sr.unh.edu/WWW/Simpson/IMPData/hourly.html  for the
UNH-resident version.  The count rates at UNH are based on the
folding together of telescope coincidence-mode count rates and
pulse height analysis data.  The data at UNH and at SPDF are ASCII
formatted.  The data at UNH are in monthly files and at SPDF are in
annual files

The proton and alpha particle fluxes are each given in 9 energy bands
in the 11-95 MeV/n range, and the electron fluxes are given in 0.7- 2.0,
2-12 and 12-50 MeV bands.  The "heavies" rates are of both heavy
nuclei (CNO>80,<80 MeV/n; Z>8 low and high energy) and of all
penetrating particles (including protons with E>   106 MeV).

The species-specific subdirectories have readme files that identify
the energy bands relevant to each species, as given in the UNH-resident
monthly files' headers.  The fill value for all fluxes and rates is
9.999E+05 in the SPDF-resident files.


IMP 8 GME data

These data are based on 30-min PHA-based proton and
alpha particle fluxes determined from the IMP 8 GME (Goddard
Medium Energy) experiment.  Fluxes for every other one of the
CDAWeb-accessible 30 proton energy channels, and 21 alpha
particle energy channels, are folded into this interface
as providing sufficient spectral resolution for our purposes.
(CDAWeb is at http://cdaweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/sp_phys if you
want to access fluxes for the in-between channels.)
Because the dE/dx - E boxes used with pulse height data
for deriving fluxes of particles in specific species and
energy bands were optimized for energetic solar particle
events, quiet time cosmic ray fluxes must be used carefully,
especially at the high energy end of the Low Energy Detector
range (i.e., ~6-20 MeV/n).  For further detail, see the home
page of the IMP 8 GME team at
http://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/imp8_GME/GME_home.html


Pioneer 10 &11 CRT

The GSFC/UNH Cosmic Ray Telescope (CRT) flown on the
Pioneer-10 and -11 spacecraft, and the ~3-300 MeV/n proton
and alpha particle flux data made accessible through this
multi-source spectral plot interface, are extensively described at
ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/pioneer/pioneer10/
particle/crt/ip_6hour_ascii/p10crt6h_voldesc.sfdu

SOHO ERNE Data

The SOHO ERNE (Energetic and Relativistic Nuclei and Electron experiment)
data accessible through this MSSP interface consist of 2-hour-averaged
proton and alpha particle fluxes for the period February, 1996 to
August, 2008.  The 2-hour flux data were pulled from the U. Turku site at
http://www.srl.utu.fi/erne_data/main_english.html.  There are proton
and alpha particle fluxes each in 5 energy bins between 1.8-3.3 MeV/n
end 25.8-50.7 MeV/n.

In the data at U.Turku, zero fluxes have been replaced by fill values
to avoid problems in plotting on a logarithmic scale.  However, because
our MSSP interface enables the building of fluxes as averaged over user-
specified durations, often significantly longer than two hours, and
because we handle the plotting of zero fluxes differently
(cf. http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/spectral_interface.txt), we have
replaced all U.Turku fill values in the downloaded files with zeroes.

Adjustments to settings of the sensor contributing to the higher energy
fluxes prior to May 7, 1996, resulted in unreliable fluxes.  This is why
the H and He fluxes for two highest energy channels have our fill values
from launch through May 7, 1996.

ERNE was a contribution of the group at U. Turku, Finland.
Dr. J. Torsti was the original Principal Investigator, and Dr. Eino
Valtonen has subsequently assumed that role.  The ERNE instrument is
described at Torsti et al, Solar Physics, 162, 505-531, 1995.


STEREO-A and -B IMPACT/LET

The Low Energy Telescope (LET; Co-I Edward Stone, Caltech)
flown on the STEREO-A and -B spacecraft is a part of the
In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients
(IMPACT) investigation (PI: Janet Luhmann, UCB).  LET data
made accessible through this multi-source spectral plot
interface, 1.8-12.0 MeV proton fluxes and 2.2-15.0 MeV/n
alpha particle fluxes, spin averaged and in 4 energy
windows each, were pulled from, and represent a very small
subset of the data accessible through, the Caltech/LET
interfaces at
http://www.srl.caltech.edu/STEREO/DATA/Level1/Public/ahead/Hourly/
and http://www.srl.caltech.edu/STEREO/DATA/Level1/Public/behind/Hourly/.
See http://www.srl.caltech.edu/STEREO/docs/LET_Level1.html#level1docs
for further details.


STEREO-A & -B IMPACT/SIT data

The SIT (Suprathermal Ion Telescope) on the STEREO-A and -B spacecraft
is a component of the overall IMPACT (In-Situ Measurements of Particles
and CME Transients).  SIT measures the heavy ion composition (H, He, C, O, Fe)
from suprathermal energies (few 10's keV/n) to several MeV/n).  The IMPACT 
Co-Investigator for SIT is Glenn Mason, JHU/APL.
The hourly fluxes taken from from CDAWeb (which also provides statistical
flux uncertainties) and accessible through this Multi-Source Spectral Plot
(MSSP) interface consist of:
H	0.320 - 10.24 MeV in 10 bins
He	0.113 - 10.24 MeV/n in 13 bins
[The MSSP-2 interface at http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/flux_spectr_m2.html
contains SIT fluxes for H, He, C, O, Fe.]
A companion FTPBrowser interface at
http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/sta_sit_all_hr.html lists ranges for each
energy bin for each element, and enables time-series plotting of any
combination of elements and energy bins.
The SIT instrument and measurements are described at
http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/impact/SSR/MasonetalSSR.pdf
and at
http://epact2.gsfc.nasa.gov/STEREO/SIT_description_V_2-9.pdf.
An important page with caveats on data usage is at
http://stereo.ssl.berkeley.edu/sit/caveats_2011_10_07.pdf.


Ulysses COSPIN data

These daily-averaged fluxes are from the LET (Low Energy Telescope;
R.G. Marsden, ESTEC) and HET (High Energy Telescope; R.B. McKibben,
UNH) components of the COSPIN (COsmic ray and Solar Particle
INvestigation; R.B. McKibben, UNH) package flown on the Ulysses
spacecraft.  For instrument details, see:
COSPIN: http://ulysses-ops.jpl.esa.int/ulysses/archive/cospin.html
LET: http://helio.estec.esa.nl/ssd/public/let.html
HET: http://ulysses.sr.unh.edu/WWW/Simpson/UlyDocs/HET.html.
There are 5 LET proton fluxes in energy bins ranging from 2-4 to 16-20
MeV and two HET proton fluxes at 39-70 and 71-94 MeV.
There are 3 LET alpha particle fluxes in energy bins ranging from
4-6 to 11-20 MeV/n and two HET alpha particle fluxes at 39-70 and
71-95 MeV/n.  The fluxes are derived by convolving pulse height data
and telescope coincidence more count rates.  The data are further
described, and are ftp-accessible, at
LET:  
ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/ulysses/particle/cospin/let/let_pha_flux_h_he_1day/
and
HET:  
ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/ulysses/particle/cospin/het/het_pha_flux_h_he_1day/


Ulysses HISCALE data

These daily-averaged He fluxes are from the HISCALE (Heliosphere
Instrument for Spectrum, Composition and Anisotropy at Low
Energies; L.J. Lanzerotti, P.I. and T.P. Armstrong, Co-I and Data
product creator) flown on the Ulysses spacecraft.  The He fluxes
are in 12 energy bands between 0.314-0.388 MeV/n to 3.17-3.91 MeV/n
These fluxes were taken from a multi-species HISCALE data set
(He, C, O, Ne, Si, Fe) accessible in EXCEL spreadsheet format from
http://data.ftecs.com/VHO/VEPO/ace_epam/pha/spectra/.
The fluxes result from the convolution of pulse height data and
coincidence mode count rate data.  On 2/2/2012, a newly 
FunTech-reprocessed version of the data, having revised fluxes and 
energy bin ranges, was swapped into this MSSP interface and into 
the FTPBrowser interface at 
http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/uly_hisc_flux_1d.html
For instrument and data product details, see the Ulysses Data 
Analysis Handbook (and referenced therein) at 
http://hiscale.ftecs.com/uly-handbk-oview.html.
For fluxes of all measured species, see
http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/flux_spectr_m2.html

Voyager 1&2 LECP data

These data sets flow into NSSDC and its nssdcftp server
routinely from the ftp site of the Voyager Low Energy Charged
Particle team at the Applied Physics Laboratory.  See
http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/VOYAGER/v1_data/v1_1h/v1_prot_1h/v1_%Y_prot_flux_1h.txt
and
ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/voyager/voyager1/particle/lecp/v1_prot_1hour/.
The data consist of hourly proton fluxes and their uncertainties
in the energy ranges 0.57-1.78, 3.40-17.6, and 22.0-31.0 MeV.
See http://voyager.ftecs.com/default.htm and
ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/voyager/voyager1/
particle/lecp/v1_prot_1day/read_me_v1_prot_flux_1d.txt
for further detail.

Owing to the significant interest in Voyager data as Voyager travels
in the vicinity of the Heliosphere's boundary with the interstellar medium,
we have today (11/20/2012) added LECP ion fluxes to the interfaces.
These fluxes are dominantly protons, with an admixture of helium and
higher-Z ions.  The ion fluxes are in eight energy bins in the range
0.040-0.053 MeV/n to 2-4 MeV/n.  Spectra for these fluxes are shown
with spectra of protons from other sources upon the specification of
Species = Protons on the interface page.  The data are as taken from
http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/VOYAGER/v1_data/v1_1h/v1_ion_1h/ and
http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/VOYAGER/v2_data/v1_1h/v2_ion_1h/
Plots and lists of subsets of the fluxes and their uncertainties are 
available
from http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/v1_lecp_ion_flux_1h.html and
http://omniweb.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftpbrowser/v2_lecp_ion_flux_1h.html

Voyager 1&2 CRS data

The Cosmic Ray Subsystem (CRS) investigations on Voyagers 1 and 2
were provided by a collaboration of Caltech personnel (Stone et al.,
Low Energy Telescope - LET) and GSFC personnel (McDonald et al.,
High Energy Telescope - HET).  The team's web site, with much detail,
is at http://voyager.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

The 6-hour-resolution CRS data have many proton and alpha particle fluxes,
which are not identically the same on the two Voyagers.  For Voyager 1, there
are eight proton energy bins (1.9-2.6 MeV to 132-242 MeV) and 11 alpha
particle energy bins (1.8-2.6 MeV/n to 193-480 MeV/n).  For Voyager 2,
there are 11 proton energy bins (1.9-2.6 MeV to 171-225 MeV) and 14
alpha particle energy bins (1.8-2.6 MeV/n to 191-457 MeV/n).  See
the "Data home page" links on the spectral plot interface page for a
listing of the individual energy bins for each spacecraft and species.

The CRS fluxes made available through this multi-spacecraft spectral plot
interface represent a data subset intended to eliminate much of the energy
overlap of the underlying data.  Only six of the eight or eleven energy
channels per species are used, as shown when one selects the "Listing of
spectral function points..." option from the spectral plot page.

Some bins overlap due to energy overlap between LET and HET and
others overlap in association with multiple count rate coincidence
conditions.  For further detail, see the CRS team web site cited above
and see ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/voyager/voyager1/
particle/crs/six_hour/vy1crs_6h_fmt.txt.


Wind EPACT LEMT data

These EPACT/LEMT (Energetic Particles:Acceleration, Composition and
Transport/Low Energy Matrix Telescope) data consist of hourly
omnidirectional fluxes of helium in 6 energy bins spanning 2.0 to 12.7 MeV/n.
They may also be found for solar particle event intervals, along with 
fluxes
of higher-Z elements, at http://vho.nasa.gov/mission/wind/epact/omni/.
See the EPACT web page at http://epact2.gsfc.nasa.gov/don/epact.htm
for further detail.

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