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Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

Ionospheric Digital Database

The ionosphere is that part of the Earth's atmosphere that results mainly from the photo ionization of the upper atmosphere. Traditionally, the following ionospheric regions and their approximate height ranges have been designated: D region (60-90 km); E region (90-150 km); F1 region (150-250 km); and F2 region (above 250 km). Ionosondes utilize the radio wave-reflecting properties of the ionosphere. The product of the speed of light in a vacuum and half the
elapsed time between vertical transmission of a single frequency electromagnetic wave and reception of the reflected wave at the transmitting location is defined as the virtual height of that frequency. A sweep-frequency ionogram is a plot of virtual height versus frequency and is recorded as instantaneously as possible. These ionospheric data consist mainly of hourly values for at least one of the following characteristics: foF2, M(3000)F2, hF2, foF1, M(3000)F1, hF, foE, hE,
foE2, hE2, foEs, fbEs, hEs, fmI, and fxI. The values are five byte (character) fields. The first three bytes of the field are reserved for a numeric value; the last two bytes are reserved for the qualifying and descriptive letter, if present. There are no decimals encoded in these data. Documentation is included. There are two CD-ROM's worth of data. One contains 1957 - 1975 data; the other contains 1976-1990 data. ASCII data files and a DOS-compatible application is
included.
Cite this dataset when used as a source.
  • ID not available.
gov.noaa.ngdc.stp.ionosonde:G01257
Other Access Online access information not available.
Distribution Formats Format not available
    Distributor Justin Mabie
    Space and Terrestrial Weather Specialist
    DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
    (303) 497-6135
    Justin.Mabie@noaa.gov
    Dataset Point of Contact Justin Mabie
    Space and Terrestrial Weather Specialist
    DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
    (303) 497-6135
    Justin.Mabie@noaa.gov
    Time Period 1957-01-01 to 1990-01-01
    Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
    West: -180.000000
    East: 180.000000
    South: -90.000000
    North: 90.000000
    Spatial Coverage Map
    Documentation links not available.
    Publication Dates
    • publication: 1981-01-01
    Edition First
    Dataset Progress Status Under development - data is currently in the process of being created
    Data Update Frequency Monthly
    Purpose Ionospheric and Space Weather Research
    Use Limitations
    • While every effort has been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the limits of the current state of the art, NOAA cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in the data, nor as a result of the failure of the data to function on a particular system. NOAA makes no warranty, expressed or implied, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty.
    Originators
    • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
    Publishers
    • NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
    • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
    Theme keywords NASA/GCMD Earth Science Keywords
    • Space Physics > Ionospheric Science
    • EARTH SCIENCE > SOLAR PHYSICS > Solar Energetic Particles > Particle Density
    Uncontrolled Keywords
    • Ionosphere
    • Ionosonde
    • Vertical Soundings
    Data Center keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Data Center Keywords
    • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
    • DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NGDC > National Geophysical Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce
    Place keywords NASA/GCMD Location Keywords
    • Global
    Project keywords Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Project Keywords
    • ICSU-WDS > International Council for Science - World Data System
    Use Constraints
    • Use Constraints: None
    Access Constraints
    • Access Constraints: No Constraints
    Fees Fee information not available.
    Lineage information for: repository
    Processing Steps
    • 2015-04-22T00:00:00 - NOAA created the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) by merging NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), and National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), including the National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC), per the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Public Law 113-235. NCEI launched publicly on April 22, 2015.
    Last Modified: 2015-09-18
    For questions about the information on this page, please email: Justin.Mabie@noaa.gov