THE NASA Solar TErrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission enhances SWPC forecasts by providing off-Sun-Earth-line measurements of the in-situ solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field, and energetic particle environment, in addition to coronal and heliospheric imagery. On these pages, SWPC provides plots of the in-situ parameters from STEREO.
STEREO tracking coverage is available from the NASA STEREO Science Center's STEREO Space Weather Beacon Coverage page.
The dynamic plots automatically update when new data is available. Included in the plot title is the instrument name and, where appropriate, the current co-rotation lead/lag time.
Plots of predefined durations of 3 hours [3h], and 1 [1d], 3 [3d], 7 [7d], and 30 days [30d] can be displayed by selecting the appropriate button in the top left.
Choices of pre-defined plots may be selected using the buttons immediately beneath the plot. For data sets where co-rotating structures are applicable, the Lead/Lag time is depicted in its own plot.
Along the bottom, a navigation panel depicts the full 30-days of available data. Users may manually select a period of interest by moving the beginning and ending sliders as well as the entire selection pane.
A drop-down menu in the top-right afford changes in display size, printing, and downloading of plots.
Mousing over the dynamic plots displays a window of values corresponding to the cursor position.
STEREO was launched October 25, 2006 and originally consisted of a pair of observatories each orbiting the Sun at about the distance of the Earth, but moving in opposite directions. STEREO-A moving ahead of the Earth at an angular rate of ~22 degrees per year, and STEREO-B falling behind the Earth at the same angular rate. Authoritative information about STEREO may be obtained from the NASA STEREO Science Center.
Unfortunately, on October 1, 2014, contact with STEREO-B was lost and attempts at recovery have failed. Further details are provided on the STEREO Science Center's STEREO-B Status Update page.
As STEREO-A continued, it passed behind the Sun and is now approaching the Earth and will be in conjunction in August 2023.
Information about the instruments that provide the data herein:
- In-situ Measurements of Particles and CME Transients (IMPACT)
- PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC)
Information about other instruments and data not provided herein:
The vector-based dynamic plots replaced the legacy raster-based plots on 2021-03-01.
The real-time STEREO data depicted in the plots is available in JSON format from SWPC data services. The files are approximately 23 MB in size.