JSOC Emergency Resources

This page contains updated information on:

The status of the JSOC and affected SDO/IRIS data distribution systems
Alternate data resources that are providing SDO and IRIS data, and
Frequently Asked Questions.

We appreciate your understanding as our team prioritizes the repair and recovery of the affected systems.
All available information will be posted on this site, and any inquiries we receive that are not answered in the current FAQ will be added as soon as we are able.

Status:

All resources from the Stanford JSOC website and data system are unavailable until repairs and recovery are completed
IRIS Level 2 data through November 22, 2024 remain available at iris.lmsal.com/search/
The Virtual Solar Observatory is the best location to find historical AIA and HMI science data through November 26, 2024, though not all dates and products are available
SDO EVE data products are not impacted by this outage

27-November-2024

On Tuesday, November 26, 2024 a 4-inch chilled-water pipe in the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Joint Science Operations Center (JSOC) server room broke. This caused major flooding in the building and extensive water damage in the lab that houses the machines that process and distribute data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) and Atmospheric Imaging Array (AIA) instruments and from the IRIS spacecraft. The Stanford JSOC team is working to assess the extent of the damage, but it is severe. Science data processing for HMI, AIA, and IRIS will be down for an extended length of time, as will access to the archived data at JSOC.

The data capture systems for all three instruments remain functional, so ultimately incoming data are not expected to be lost. Instrument health and safety monitoring is being handled at the Instrument Operations Center at the Lockheed Martin Solar & Astrophysics Lab (LMSAL). The instruments continue to function normally.

The team will provide updates as more information becomes available. We deeply regret any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as our team prioritizes the repair and recovery of the affected systems.

Data Access:

This list is evolving, as there are caches of data that providers are working to make accessible. Resources that contain historical AIA and HMI data (i.e. before November 27, 2024) are available from the following:

Historical browse data (jpegs but not raw data) from sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov, suntoday.lmsal.com, cruiser.lmsal.com/, helioviewer.org/
Historical data and data products still available through the Virtual Solar Observatory:
- AIA: (details coming soon)
- HMI: (details coming soon)
Historical SDO data available through MEDOC at IAS
- AIA: level 1, at a cadence of 1 minute
- HMI: 720s data (magnetograms, ic, and sharp)
Historical data and data products still available at aia.lmsal.com:
- AIA: LMSAL HEK (data associated with the reported events on HEK)
- HMI: LMSAL Forecast (LMSAL Evolving Surface-Flux Assimilation Model with HMI data input)
Historical data on HelioCloud: HelioCloud - SDO
Data Description: Google Doc
SDOML dataset on HelioCloud: SDOML
Historical IRIS Level 2 data through Nov 22nd, 2024: IRIS Data
AIA Active Region Patches: AARPS
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac9c06

FAQ Section

A. At this point it is unclear how long it will take to assess the damage, repair the equipment, and complete recovery. We do know that the damage is extensive and will not be completed until 2025.

A. Data acquisition is proceeding nominally and no loss of new or historical data is currently anticipated. However, the data acquisition and distribution system is currently not able to process new data (past November 26, 2024) so there will be a significant delay in the delivery of that data.

A. Unfortunately, all resources that rely on SDO data must switch to alternate sources (such as SUVI, SOLIS, GONG, etc.) for now.

A. Yes, if you are willing to make the data available to users, please contact us. If you have data that is not available through other providers (such as VSO) then we will add the information to this document.

A. If you access images from one of the resources that was not damaged, we recommend either switching to an earlier date or identifying a compatible resource, such as NOAA’s Solar UV Imager or ground-based magnetograms.

Welcome to the JSOC Emergency Resources Page

Status:

Data Access:

FAQ Section

Q. How long will the outage last?

Q. Will there be any loss of data?

Q. What about recent and real-time data needed for space weather, and space environment data products, and mission planning?

Q. We have some historical AIA/HMI data at my institution that might be useful to users. Can we help?

Q. What should be done during the outage for exhibits and displays that rely on up-to-date solar images?