The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was launched in June 2008 to explore high-energy phenomena in the Universe. This GI program is targeted specifically at Fermi observations of high-energy solar phenomena, primarily solar flares. We provide quicklook products, data archives, and analysis software covering the solar X-ray and gamma-ray observations of both the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope (LAT), with the objective of facilitating and encouraging the broad use of Fermi data by the international solar physics community.
What we provide:
GBM Solar Flare List | Autonomous flare finder identifies all flares ≥ GOES C-Class detected by GBM above 10 keV. (FITS file) |
LAT Significant Event List | Time periods when the >100 MeV fluxes computed via the light-bucket method deviate significantly from the mean level during a 4-day period. |
GBM Quicklook Daily and Orbital Plots |
Time histories of NaI, GBO, and GOES data, with flare and day/night
markers. Orbital plots are on RHESSI
orbit times.
Direct Links to PNG files: Daily Plots Orbit Plots |
GBM Response Matrix FITS Files | Time-dependent detector response matrices for each GBM detector covering the duration of every GBM flare. Needed in the spectral analysis software to relate observed count-rate spectra to model photon spectra. Suitable for analyzing CPEC and CTIME data. |
LAT 4-day Quicklook Plots |
LAT solar gamma-ray flux > 100 MeV, one point per solar exposure (i.e.
average of the 20-40 minutes of solar observation every ~1.5 hours)
calculated by two different methods. Direct Link to PNG files:
Light-Bucket plots or
Maximum Likelihood plots |
LAT Daily Lightcurve FITS Files | LAT data between 100 MeV and 10 GeV filtered for solar counts in 1-minute time bins, no energy binning, using light-bucket method. Contains exposure (cm^2 s) information. |
LAT Daily Spectrum FITS Files | LAT data filtered for solar counts in 1-minute time bins, 10 energy bins from 30 MeV to 10 GeV, usnig light-bucket method. Used as the basis for the LAT quicklook plots, and as input to the OSPEX spectral analysis software. |
LAT Response Matrix FITS Files | LAT detector response matrices for each solar exposure period (20-40 minutes every ~1.5 hours). |
GBM Spectral Analysis LAT Spectral Analysis |
OSPEX,
IDL spectral analysis software package, is used to
For GBM, input is daily or trigger CSPEC or CTIME file from Fermi archive and corresponding response file from our archive. For LAT, input is daily spectrum file and corresponding response file, both from our archive. See the OSPEX Guide for more information. |
IDL Utility Routines | Useful SSW IDL routines for Fermi solar data analysis. |
This project is funded by the Fermi GI program.
Please include the following acknowledgement if
you use these facilities in a paper or presentation:
"We acknowledge the use of the Fermi Solar Flare Observations facility funded by the Fermi GI program
(https://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/fermi_solar/)."
Last updated 31 January, 2018 by Kim Tolbert