SolarMonitor2: A New Era of Solar Data Monitoring
For over two decades, SolarMonitor.org has been a go-to resource for near-real-time and archived solar data. From solar flares to coronal holes, the site served a variety of data products to the heliophysics community with reliability and dedication. But after 20+ years, even the most trusted tools can show their age.
Why the Upgrade?
The original SolarMonitor (1.0) was built on outdated infrastructure — a patchwork of HTML/PHP pages, hardcoded image links, and IDL-based data processing. This architecture posed several issues: - High development overhead: Tracking and fixing bugs was time-consuming and inefficient. - Limited scalability: Adding new features or data sources was difficult. - Community limitations: External contributions were hard to integrate, slowing down innovation.
Recognizing these challenges, the team at DIAS launched SolarMonitor2, a complete overhaul of the platform with modern technology at its core.
What’s New in SolarMonitor2?
SolarMonitor2 represents a fresh, future-proof foundation for solar data services:
- Containerized Infrastructure: Built with Docker, the new system is modular, scalable, and easy to maintain. It also enables seamless data communication via HTTP/JSON.
- Modern Web Framework: Leveraging Flask and nginx, SolarMonitor2 delivers a fast, responsive, and clean user interface.
- Expanded Data Coverage: With more data sources and processing capabilities, the platform offers hourly cadence full-disk images, active regions tracking, time series data, and solar event monitoring.
- API Access: Developers and researchers can now access data programmatically via a robust API (
solmon.dias.ie/api). - Reliability and Automation: Missing data is automatically filled in, ensuring minimal downtime and more consistent results.
- Community Driven: Open-source and hosted on GitHub, SolarMonitor2 invites feedback and contributions from the broader scientific community.
What’s Next?
The alpha version is now live at solmon.dias.ie, with ongoing development and new features being rolled out regularly. The team is actively seeking feedback and collaboration — whether you're a solar physicist, data scientist, or simply curious about space weather, your voice matters.
Join the journey as SolarMonitor enters its next chapter. Cleaner code. Smarter tools. A stronger community.
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