5-2A
How to get current data from the web and import it to Excel
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration posts the most recent 30 days of
solar data on the web. To get the data, go to the website address below:
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/lists/radio/30day_rad.txt
You will notice several charts, each corresponding to a date. We will extract ONE
measurement for each date. Below is a sample chart along with the header from the top
of the website. We will use this to understand what the entries mean. Look at this
sample chart for July 14th, 2002:
Freq
MHz
Learmonth
0400 UTC
2002 July 14
245
17
410
40
610
50
1415
86
2695
124
2800
-1
4995
192
8800
285
15400
545
San Vito
1100 UTC
17
39
58
98
123
-1
204
306
519
Sag Hill
1600 UTC
49
37
52
102
147
-1
208
320
577
Penticton
1700 UTC
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
146
-1
-1
-1
Penticton
2000 UTC
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
144
-1
-1
-1
Palehua Penticton
2200 UTC 2300 UTC
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
147
-1
-1
-1
Each of the column headings represents stations where data was taken (for example,
Learmonth, San Vito, etc.). We will use the column “Sag Hill,” which stands for
Sagamore Hill. This data was collected in Sagamore, Massachusetts and hopefully will
match the data you collect the best.
On the left side, notice that the rows are headed with numbers such as 245, 410, 606, etc.
These numbers represent the frequency of light that was measured. We are going to look
at the 1415 row. This row is data that was measured using light with a frequency of 1415
MHz and hopefully will match the SRT data best as well.
Find the Sagamore Hill data measured at 1415 MHz. On the chart above, that value is
102. To clarify, the chart above is copied below and the measurement you want is
written in large, bold type.
Freq
MHz
Learmonth
0400 UTC
2002 July 14
245
17
410
40
610
50
1415
86
2695
124
2800
-1
4995
192
8800
285
15400
545
San Vito
1100 UTC
17
39
58
98
123
-1
204
306
519
Sag Hill
1600 UTC
49
37
52
102
147
-1
208
320
577
Penticton
1700 UTC
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
146
-1
-1
-1
Penticton
2000 UTC
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
144
-1
-1
-1
Palehua Penticton
2200 UTC 2300 UTC
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
-1
147
-1
-1
-1
5-2A
The number is in solar flux units (but we won’t worry about the units too much). If there
is a “-1” entry, that means no data was collected. Is this is the case, do not include that
date in your data table.
Record the date and the measurement in the table on the next page. Do this for all days
that you made SRT measurements. Eventually, we will also graph the data you take with
the SRT and compare the results as well as try to determine the period of rotation of the
sun.