Solar Astronomy Data Base: Packaged Information on Diskette

Abstract

In its role as a library, the National Geophysical Data Center has transferred to diskette a collection of small, digital files of routinely measured solar indices for use on an IBM-compatible desktop computer. Recording these observations on diskette allows the distribution of specialized information to researchers with a wide range of expertise in computer science and solar astronomy. Every data set was made self-contained by including formats, extraction utilities, and plain-language descriptive text. Moreover, for several archives, two versions of the observations are provided - one suitable for display, the other for analysis with popular software packages. Since the files contain no control characters, each one can be modified with any text editor.