NOAA has started releasing real-time SupraThermal Ion Sensor (STIS) and Solar Wind Plasma Sensor (SWiPS) measurements from its Space Weather Observations at L1 to Advance Readiness – 1 (SOLAR-1) observatory to the space weather operational and scientific communities.
SOLAR-1 was launched on September 24, 2025 as a rideshare with NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) and Carruthers Geocoronal Observatory (CGO). Originally known as Space Weather Follow On – Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1), the mission was renamed SOLAR-1 when it reached orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L1) on January 23, 2026. Measurements from both instruments will be used to characterize the background solar wind as well as transient structures such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), corotating interaction regions (CIRs), streams, interplanetary shocks, etc. STIS suprathermal flux data will permit warnings of incoming geomagnetic storms to be provided hours earlier based on measurements of Energetic Ion Enhancements. The new data will extend the historical record which includes datasets from WIND’s 3DP SST instrument since 1994, SOHO/COSTEP since 1995, and ACE/EPAM since 1997. SWiPS data will be used to drive a number of operational and research-focused geospace models. They will provide continuity to earlier datasets such as those of WIND/3DP and ACE/SWEPAM.
The STIS instrument was built by a University of California, Berkeley, team led by Davin Larson. STIS is a solid-state telescope designed to detect ions (< 6 MeV) and electrons (< 300 keV) in the solar wind. In addition to the Level 3 data at a 1-minute resolution, lower-level data products will be available at the original 2-second time resolution.
The SWiPS instrument was built by a Southwest Research Institute team led by Robert Ebert. SWiPS is a dual top-hat electrostatic analyzer that measures the ion velocity distribution to derive the solar wind velocity, density, and temperature at a 1-minute time resolution.
Product levels and types are described in the Calibration and Validation Plan available from the SWFO Data Products and Science webpage of the office of Space Weather Observations (SWO).
The STIS first public data announcement featured both electron and ion differential flux data measured following an intense interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) that occurred on October 21-23, 2025. Although initially directed towards Venus, which was positioned opposite of the Earth in relation to the Sun, the energetic particles were released in a wide range of heliographic directions and subsequently detected by STIS prior to the spacecraft reaching L1.
The SWIPS first public data announcement featured solar wind ion measurements of protons and alpha particles as well as preliminary estimates of the derived speed, density, temperature, and dynamic pressure of the solar wind as a result of geomagnetic storm activity on November 12-13, 2025 as a result of several Earth-directed CMEs.
Data products passed NOAA’s provisional-maturity Product Validation Reviews (PVR) for STIS on May 27 and for SWiPS on June 9, 2026. The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) began releasing operational data from the sensors as well as the magnetometer (MAG) in real time at its webpage on June 10, 2026. NCEI will begin releasing archived operational as well as retrospective data at its Space Weather Portal (SPOT) website. NCEI will gradually reprocess and release earlier data, eventually including those of October 2025. Data quality at the time of provisional maturity is described in the data Readme files, which are linked at the bottom of the respective instrument pages in SPOT.
Points of contact:
Real-time data from SWPC: Jeff Johnson (jeff.m.johnson@noaa.gov)
Archived data from NCEI: William Rowland (william.rowland@noaa.gov), Team (ncei.spaceweather@noaa.gov)
Other information (sensor requirements and specifications, publications, paper) from SWO: Dimitrios Vassiliadis (dimitrios.vassiliadis@noaa.gov).