May 7, 2003 This file briefly summarizes the Nimbus-7 SBUV solar spectral irradiance data product. The SBUV instrument measured solar irradiance on an approximately daily basis with 1.1 nm resolution. The data provided here are daily average solar spectra over the wavelength range 170-400 nm in 1 nm bins, covering the time period November 7, 1978 to October 26, 1986. The data have been fully corrected for long-term instrument calibration changes. A complete description of the data processing procedure can be found in DeLand and Cebula [JGR, 106, 21,569-21,583, 2001]. The Nimbus-7 SBUV irradiance data are intended for use in studies of short-term and long-term solar UV variability. The estimated long- term accuracy of the data is 2.6% (2 sigma) at 205 nm, and 1.8% at 240 nm. Two binary data files and two IDL programs to examine the data are provided. 'n07_dates_daily.unf' contains the date (year, day of year, running day number from 1 January 1978) for every available spectrum. 'n07_spec_daily.unf' contains the corresponding spectra (170-400 nm, 1 nm bins, units of mW/m^2/nm). The program 'n07_spec_public.pro' will plot any available Nimbus-7 SBUV irradiance spectrum. 'n07_time_public.pro' plots a time series of irradiance data averaged over a selected wavelength band. If ASCII files are more convenient, please use 'n07_dates.dat' (year, day of year, running day number) and 'n07_irrad.dat' (10 column x 23 row irradiance data block for each spectrum). Solar UV spectral irradiance data from the NOAA-11 SBUV/2 instrument covering the period December 1988 to October 1994 are also available in the binary data files 'n11_dates_daily.unf' and 'n11_spec_daily.unf', or in the ASCII files 'n11_dates_v1.dat' and 'n11_irrad_v1.dat'. The format of these files is identical to the corresponding Nimbus-7 SBUV data files. Further information can be found in the companion papers by Cebula et al. [JGR, 103, 16,235-16,249, 1998] and DeLand and Cebula [JGR, 103, 16,251-16,273, 1998]. Contact Information =================== Matthew DeLand Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI) 10210 Greenbelt Rd., Suite 400 Lanham, MD 20706 Ph. (301) 867-2164 E-Mail: matthew_deland@ssaihq.com Web: http://ventus.gsfc.nasa.gov/solar.html DATA: http://ozone.sesda.com/solar/