9/13/2024
The Level 2 NMAX data product has been updated to version 04. The only difference between version 03 and version 04 are the values of the statistical (random) uncertainties in the retrieved peak electron density (the NMAX_UNC_RAN variable). No other variables are impacted by this update. See the GOLD data release notes for details.
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 5.7: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
5/20/2024
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 5.6: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
4/10/2024
The Level 2 TDISK version 05 and Level 2 ON2 version 04 data products have both been updated to revision 02. The only differences between revision 01 and revision 02 are the values of the BACKGROUND variable in the TDISK product and small changes to timestamps in both TDISK and ON2. No other variables including retrieved disk temperatures and derived ΣO/N2 are impacted by the changes. It is not necessary for users to replace revision 01 with revision 02 unless users are specifically interested in the variables impacted. See the GOLD data release notes for details.
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 5.5: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
1/22/2024
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 5.4: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
1/3/2024
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 5.3: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
6/21/2023
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 5.2: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
6/16/2023
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 5.1: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
5/26/2023
New versions of GOLD Level 1 and Level 2 data are now available.
This release includes a full reprocess of all Level 1B, Level 1C and Level 2 data products. The major Level 1 changes that users should be aware of include improved temporal and geolocation accuracy, an improved flatfield correction algorithm, improved airglow subtraction for night-side occultations, and the addition of a new dark limb (DLM) observation type. All Level 2 data products have been reprocessed using the new and improved version of L1C data, as well as an updated algorithm for NMAX. See the release notes for additional details (link to documentation below).
The dates currently available for each GOLD data product can be found on the Current Data Product Versions page at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/current-data-product-versions/
Updated documentation for GOLD data products is available at gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/documentation
In addition, a catalog of GOLD stellar occultation observations (updated daily) is now available on the tools page at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/tools
9/6/2022
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 4.6: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
8/5/2022
The Level 2 TDISK data product has been updated to version 04.
This update includes several significant changes to the TDISK algorithm, including:
- The GOLD instrument model used in the TDISK retrieval algorithm has been expanded to include a 2-dimensional point spread function (PSF). The PSF describes the instrument response, which was previously only characterized along the spectral dimension. The second dimension introduced in v04 characterizes the instrument response in the spatial dimension, along the GOLD entrance slit. This fixes some known biases that were caused by changing instrument performance, e.g., spectral resolution, along the slit, which corresponds to the latitudinal gradient in GOLD data.
- Spectral binning is now performed on the input L1C DAY radiance spectrum before applying the Level 2 retrieval algorithm. This is in addition to the 2×2 spatial binning that was introduced in v03 processing. The spatial binning is done first, followed by spectral binning.
See the release notes for additional details.
The GOLD data release notes have been updated to Rev 4.5 and the GOLD Science Data Products Guide has been updated to Rev 4.4. Both documents are available at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
11/17/2021
The Level 2 O2DEN data product has been updated to version 04.
Users should be aware that the actual values of the O2DEN data product – altitude profiles of O2 number density – are identical in version 04 compared to version 03 because nothing has changed in the underlying Level 2 O2DEN algorithm.
The only changes made in version 04 are in the format of the Level 2 data files, specifically the dimensions of the output altitude arrays. See the release notes for additional details.
The GOLD data release notes have been updated to Rev 4.4 and the GOLD Science Data Products Guide has been updated to Rev 4.3. Both documents are available at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
9/27/2021
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 4.3: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
9/14/2021
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 4.2: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
9/6/2021
The daytime, full-disk imaging cadence of GOLD was decreased beginning on 9/6/2021 to extend the instrument’s capability to provide observations of the atomic oxygen 135.6 nm emissions, which are essential to three GOLD Level 2 data products: NMAX (in the nighttime ionosphere), ON2 and QEUV (both on the dayside).
As described in the GOLD data release notes (https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/), sensitivity to the OI 135.6 nm emission decreases as the total number of photons detected increases. To mitigate sensitivity loss, a grating yaw mechanism (GYM), which rotates the grating slightly to move the 135.6 nm emission to a less used location on the detector, is part of the instrument design.
Daytime airglow emissions are the dominant contributor to the total fluence of 135.6 nm photons and, therefore to sensitivity decline at 135.6 nm. Because the useful range of motion for the GYM is limited, the GOLD team has reduced the cadence of daytime observations in order to extend production of the 135.6 nm-dependent data products. In addtition, stellar occultation observations are now being restricted to nightside occultations only. Changes in the spatial coverage of daytime observations can also contribute to extension of observations, and a final choice for the tradeoff between temporal cadence and spatial coverage is yet to be completed.
8/5/2021
Updated GOLD Science Data Products Guide to Rev 4.2: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
7/7/2021
GOLD Level 1B data is now available from NASA’s Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF): https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/
6/24/2021
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 4.1: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
5/20/2021
Updated GOLD Science Data Products Guide to Rev 4.1: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
4/2/2021
New versions of GOLD Level 1 and Level 2 data are now available.
This release includes a full reprocess of all Level 1C and Level 2 data products. The Level 1 changes include updated radiometric calibration and an updated background subtraction, as well as several other changes. All Level 2 data products have been reprocessed using the new version of L1C data, as well as improved algorithms for the ON2, QEUV and TDISK data products. See the release notes for additional details (link to documentation below).
The dates currently available for each GOLD data product can be found on the Current Data Product Versions page at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/current-data-product-versions/
Updated documentation for GOLD data products is available at gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/documentation
3/26/2021
L1B data from a special Waves Campaign (October 17-19, 2019) has been made available for download on the Campaigns page: https://gold/cs.ucf.edu/data/campaigns
Information regarding correction of altitude errors in Stellar Occultation data that result from timing errors due to drift in the onboard clock has been added to the tools page: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/tools
11/24/2020
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 3.8: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
11/19/2020
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 3.7: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
10/22/2020
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 3.6: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
9/22/2020
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 3.5: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
8/28/2020
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 3.4: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
4/16/2020
Updated GOLD data release notes to Rev 3.3: https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
4/8/2020
Additional GOLD Level 2 data are now available.
All L2 TLIMB data have been reprocessed to version 03 due to a minor correction in the algorithm to properly handle filtering of solar zenith angle, and the initial version of the L2 NMAX product has now been released.
All L2 data products (ON2, QEUV, TLIMB, O2DEN, TDISK, and NMAX) are currently available through 3/29/20 and will continue to be released on a regular basis going forward. The dates currently available for each GOLD data product can be found on the Current Data Product Versions page at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/current-data-product-versions/
Updated release notes for GOLD data are available at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
12/6/2019
Channel A L1C and L1D data are now available through 11/30/2019. Data will continue to be released on a regular basis going forward. The dates currently available for each data product can be found on the Current Data Product Versions page at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/current-data-product-versions/
Channel B L1C and L1D night time (NI1) data are also now available through 11/30/2019. The CHB NI1 data from the period 12/15/18-3/15/19 are available by request only through a link on the GOLD download page at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/search/. See section 3.1.5 of the GOLD data release notes for details on the issues with the CHB NI1 data during that time period.
Updated release notes for GOLD data are available at https://gold.cs.ucf.edu/documentation/
9/16/2019
GOLD L1C and L1D data have been updated to include a flat-field correction, as well as an improved occultation background subtraction. GOLD Level 2 data have been updated based on the new L1C data. This release also includes the initial version of the L2 QEUV data product.
Both L1 and L2 data are currently available through 8/13/2019, with the exception of L2 QEUV data, which are currently available through 1/31/2019. Updated documentation is available at gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/documentation
6/4/2019
The first release of GOLD Level 2 data is now available for download. This initial release of L2 data includes TDISK, TLIMB, and O2DEN data (through 3/14/2019) and ON2 data (through 12/31/2018). Information about these L2 data products is available in the updated data documentation available at gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/documentation/
The Level 1 Night data (L1C NI1 and L1D NI1) have been updated to version 02, and are also available for download. This update fixes the previous issue with incorrect radiances being reported in the data files.
5/14/2019
On May 12, an error in the calculation of the nightside disk radiances was discovered in the code generating the L1C NI1 files. The count rates and the counts per second are not affected. Only the radiances reported for nightside disk imaging are affected. This affects all of the L1C nightside disk data generated in version 01. The radiances will be corrected in the next data release and the documentation for the data will be updated shortly. Registered users will receive notification of updates.
3/8/2019
Initial release of GOLD Level 1 Data. Documentation is available at gold.cs.ucf.edu/data/documentation/