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Welcome to SPIDR (Space Physics Interactive Data Resource).
This tutorial should provide a user completely foreign to the SPIDR system with the basic skills needed to effectively navigate and utilize SPIDR.
Registration
This is the SPIDR welcome page, where every user begins.
Several sections have been highlighted and numbered, so as to explain them further.
1 - This map offers a selection of links to related data resources, each kept up by a NOAA affiliate.
2 - These paragraphs briefly explain the goals and capabilities of the SPIDR system.
3 - This section announces new developments and additions to the web page. Note the "All News >>>" link; this will take the user to the News Archives.
Registration
Again, we see the SPIDR welcome page, but with different areas emphasized.
The left side of the page is taken up by the Login section, which breaks down as follows:
1 - "Member login" allows those users that have previously registered with SPIDR to input their username and password, to gain access to the site.
2 - "Guest login" provides access to the site for users who do not wish to register with SPIDR, though "Guest Users" are unable to download SPIDR data to their computers. Registration is highly recommended.
3 - "Registration" is where new users create an account for use on SPIDR. Click on the "Register >>>" button to continue.
Registration
This is the Registration page, the birthplace of new SPIDR accounts.
At the registration page, the new user is required to input the following information:
1 - Name
2 - E-mail address
3 - Country of origin
4 - A User login name
5 - Preferred password (twice)
Filling in the following information is optional:
6 - Telephone number
7 - URL
8 - Organization (e.g. - school, company, government office, etc.)
After this is done, click on the "Register" button.
Registration
This is the User Information Page, where account data is displayed and updated by the user.
For the purposes of this tutorial, most of the options available onscreen can be easily ignored. However,
1 - Clicking on "Update Account Data" allows the user to add or remove personal information.
2 - To continue with the tutorial, click on the "Guided by Guru >>>" button to begin using SPIDR.
Notice:
To register in SPIDR right now, please click here.
Getting data
This page displays the data sets available to explore through SPIDR's Guru Interface. It immediately follows the registration page, after clicking on the "Guided by Guru >>>" link.
The data sets are broken down between plots, images, and tables. For this tutorial, image and table sets can be ignored.
1 - To select a data set, click the small bubble directly to the right of the desired set. In this tutorial, "GOES - Geosynchronous Operational Environmental Satellites" is the proper set.
2 - The blue underlined text is the link to use to proceed.
3 - It is important to point out that the "Advanced User >>>" link on the screen's left side should be avoided during this tutorial; it offers no assistance to the user, should any confusion arise.
Getting data
SPIDR will display a list of stations and satellites across the planet that take in the selected data. From here, one, or multiple, sources can be selected.
This allows the user to determine how much data is actually used.
1 - GOES-5 through GOES-12 are available for selection. Select "GOES-6."
2 - Clicking on the "Parameters will be selected …" button takes the user to the next page.
Getting data
The next page displays the parameters for the data set, where the user selects the type of data needed.
The selections are broken down into two sections.
1 - From the options on the left side, select "Electrons." From the group on the right, highlight "Corrected Proton Channels."
2 - Clicking on the blue text at the bottom advances to the next screen.
Getting data
This page brings everything that has been done so far to fruition.
All the available data is displayed onscreen; all that's left to do is to choose what to do with it.
1 - The end data is displayed under the "Selected Parameters and Stations" heading. A series of check boxes are on the left side of the display, allowing the user to pick and choose from the available data. Select the "GOES-6" data.
2 - Several options are available under "Next Step." They include the ability to:
Download data from the Data Basket to the user's personal computer (explained later)
Plot the selected data as a series of GIF images
Add more data (ignore this for now)
Change time interval (explained shortly)
Clear the selected parameters/stations (ignore this as well)
3 - The second option down, "Plot parameters from the User Data Basket," is the best one to use for this tutorial.
Plotting data / Getting data
Now, all that remains is to set the time interval that the plot will cover.
A good deal of time has been spent collecting the data available on SPIDR, so the years covered in the drop-down bars will stretch back quite far. While there are buttons that allow the user to define the time interval as the last 24 hours, the last week, and the last 30 days, these can be ignored for now.
1 - The "From:" interval should be set at January 1, 1990, and the "To:" interval should be set at February 28, 1990.
2 - Click the blue underlined text to continue to the plots.
Plotting data / Using the data basket
The page will stretch down as far as necessary to accommodate the plot displays. Since there are only two plots in the tutorial, the page will not be very large at all.
Clearly, the output display shows a good deal of information
1 - The plots themselves are color-coded, and each color has some text connecting it to the key further down the page. The X- and Y-axes are labeled, as well.
2 - A key to the abbreviations that accompany the plots is available further down the screen.
3 - Some other options lie all the way down the screen. The user can download the data to their computer from this page, or from the "Selected Parameters and Stations" page, displayed on page 9.
4 - Having now explored most of what the Guru interface has to offer, using the Advanced User interface next time through SPIDR may be beneficial.
Using the data basket
If the user does select the option to download from the data basket to the computer, a screen like this should pop up:
After a few moments, an automatic download window should appear. Follow the instructions to download the file, which is normally zipped. Zipped files can be opened by standard Windows utilities.
1 - If the automatic download window does not appear, clicking on a link close to the top of the page brings the window up for the user.
2 - More options abound towards the bottom of the page:
Change time interval (in case the same data types are desired, but at different time intervals)
Edit data basket (which will return the user to the display shown on page 9).
And that's the end of the Novice User Tutorial for SPIDR. See you at the Advanced SPIDR User Tutorial!
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