Retrieve data without NEST

Ready-made CSV files

Retrieve "Comma Separated Values" files of the last hour of real time data for all stations at www.nmdb.eu/rt.

3 ways 2 retrieve data with NEST

FORM

One can use NEST the classical way, by filling the form online and getting some results after clicking on submit button.

Nov. 2016: If you are using NEST to retrieve ASCII data with the https or the wget method, please note that since the recent
update you might get relative scale values instead of counts/s. To avoid this,simply add "&yunits=0" in your command line.
Jul. 2025: If you are using NEST to retrieve ASCII data with the https or the wget method, please note that since the recent
update you should not use nest.nmdb.eu anymore, but rather www.nmdb.eu/nest and https instead of http.

HTTPS ADDRESS

Another way to use NEST is to write the different parameters like stations, time, etc. in the https address:

Example 1:
https://www.nmdb.eu/nest/draw_graph.php?formchk=1&stations[]=KERG&stations[]=KIEL&output=ascii&tabchoice=ori&dtype=corr_for_efficiency&date_choice=bydate
&start_year=2009&start_month=09&start_day=01&start_hour=00&start_min=00&end_year=2009
&end_month=09&end_day=05&end_hour=23&end_min=59&yunits=0

Example 2:
https://www.nmdb.eu/nest/draw_graph.php?formchk=1&stations[]=JUNG&output=plot&tabchoice=revori&dtype=corr_for_efficiency&odtype[]=uncorrected&date_choice=
last&last_days=5&last_label=days_label&tresolution=10&envdata[]=measured_relative_humidity&yunits=0

Example 1 will show the original corrected for efficiency data starting from Sep 1st 2009 to Sep 5th 2009, in ascii format, for stations KIEL and KERG

Example 2 will show the revised corrected and uncorrected for pressure data for the last 5 days, in jpg format, for station JUNG, averaged to 10 minutes, together with the measured relative humidity for the same period and station.
With the same example, one should only change "last_label=days_label" to "last_label=hours_label" to get the last 5 hours of data and to "last_label=mins_label" to get the last 5 minutes.

The list of parameters and the corresponding possible values are given below.
Note
  • The formchk=1 parameter is mandatory in this context
  • Some parameters require brackets, ie stations[]
  • Some parameters require quotes, ie "https address"
  • If you want to select all stations, you don't need to write
    them all in 'stations' parameter: just use the 'allstations' parameter instead
  • Not all combinations of parameters are possible
  • If you want to retrieve % instead of counts, use &yunits=1
    instead of &yunits=0 (for a single station query)

WGET / CRON under unix/linux (advanced users)

A third way to retrieve data is to use the wget utility (see here). Curl is another option. This is a way to get data without using a browser. It can be helpful if combined with the cron utility for example (see here) to retrieve data on a regular basis, without any human operation.
Note that these technics are for advanced users. You should read wget full documentation before using them. Similar tools exist for windows or mac, but we have not tested them yet with Nest. Feel free to share your experience with us.

Example 3 for ascii data:
wget -np -q -O output.txt -i address.txt, where address.txt contains something similar to the example 1 above but replacing formchk=1 with wget=1.

Example 4 for ascii data:
edit the crontab and insert: 0 12 * * * wget -np -q -O output.txt -i address.txt, it will retrieve the selected data every day at 12h00 and save it in output.txt

The -np option means 'no parents'. It ensures that wget will not go up in the directory tree.
The -q option means 'quiet'. Error messages and other informations will not be displayed.
The -i option must precede the address filename and -O the output filename.

In the case you want to retrieve plots on a regular basis you need to add a few more arguments and not use the output file option.

Example 5 for plots:
wget -A.png -r -l1 -np -nd -q -i address.txt

In this example, address.txt could contain something similar to example 2. The png file(s) will be copied in your current directory. Such a command could be inserted in the crontab like in example 4.

The -r option means 'recursive'. This means the targets of the links (here images) in the html page will be retrieved
The -A.png option means 'only retrieve png files'. This means you won't get html files or whatever
The -nd option means 'no directory'. This avoid building a local copy of the distant directory hierarchy
The -l1 option means 'one level'. Specify recursion maximum depth level: only one needed here

If the https address is to long this technic might not work. Here is another one in 2 steps:
wget --spider -l1 -np -i address.txt
wget -O myimage.png https://[nest address]/data/upload/chart.png
In this case, the first step creates the image and the second one retrieves the last chart.png created.
--spider means you just connect to the address, but retrieve nothing (i.e. we build the image this way).

Note
  • With the wget method you won't get error log from NEST. One should test the address with a browser first.
  • Wget is a powerful tool, be sure to write the command properly unless you might retrieve a potentially infinite amount of data.
  • You may want to download files in a specific directory: add -P option: -P /home/me/download
    This option is not compatible with some other options, see the documentation.
  • The options are case sensitive: -p is not the same as -P

The list of main parameters:

ParameterPossible values
stations[] APTY, AATB, ATHN, ARNM etc.
allstations 1 (selects all the stations)
tabchoice revori, ori, 1h
dtype corr_for_efficiency, corr_for_pressure, uncorrected, pressure_mbar
tresolution 0, 2, 5, 10, 30, 60, 120, 360, 720, 1440, 39276, 525969 (0 correspond to "best")
date_choice last, bydate (, bygle, byforbush)
last_days 1 to 9999
last_label days_label, hours_label or mins_label
force 1 or 0
yunits 1 or 0 (% or counts/mbar for a single station query)
yscale 1 or 0
yscalemin -9999 to 9999 or min
yscalemax -9999 to 9999 or max
anomalous 1 or 0
shift 0 to 999
start_day 1 to 31
end_day 1 to 31
start_month 1 to 12
end_month 1 to 12
start_year 1956 to curent year+1
end_year 1956 to current year +1
start_hour 0 to 23
end_hour 0 to 23
start_min 0 to 59
end_min 0 to 59
output plot, ascii, both
asciifrac 1 or 0
odtype[] corr_for_efficiency, corr_for_pressure, uncorrected, pressure_mbar
ridtype ssi, msi
envdata[] measured_temperature_inside, measured_temperature_outside, measured_wind_speed_m_s, measured_relative_humidity
display_null1


Stations List

(click on the stations to get more informations)

Credits: Magnetic and geomagnetic poles coordinates are retrieved from Kyoto World Data Center for Geomagnetism
Vertical cutoff iso-rigidities (2020) are retrieved from Gerontidou et al. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2021.01.011)
Stations colors: Black circles on the map above correspond to historical stations which are now closed.
Some stations may have the same grey color: these are new stations (in NMDB) which are under test.
Using the form, just click on the color box next to the station name to change this station color*
You can also apply the same color to all stations (one color button) or reset all colors (reset colors).
All/online stations : Check all stations with the "all stations" checkbox, or select only the stations which are online (i.e. with a lag lower than 15 minutes)

 AATA=  Alma-Ata A (R=5.90, Alt=897 m)
 AATB=  Alma-Ata B (R=5.90, Alt=3340 m)
 AHMD=  Ahmedabad (R=15.94, Alt=50 m)
 APTY=  Apatity (R=0.65, Alt=181 m)
 ARNM=  Aragats (R=7.10, Alt=3200 m)
 ATHN=  Athens (R=8.53, Alt=260 m)
 BKSN=  Baksan (R=5.70, Alt=1700 m)
 BUDA=  BUDA (R=, Alt= m)
 CALG=  Calgary (R=1.08, Alt=1123 m)
 CALM=  NM de Castilla la Mancha (R=6.95, Alt=708 m)
 CHAC=  CHACALTAYA (R=11.80, Alt=5270 m)
 CLMX=  Climax (R=3.00, Alt=3400 m)
 DJON=  Daejeon (R=11.20, Alt=200 m)
 DOMB=  Dome C mini NM (bare) (R=0.01, Alt=3233 m)
 DOMC=  Dome C mini NM (R=0.01, Alt=3233 m)
 DRBS=  Dourbes (R=3.18, Alt=225 m)
 DRHM=  Durham (R=2.21, Alt=20 m)
 ESOI=  Emilio Segre Obs. Israel (R=10.75, Alt=2055 m)
 FSMT=  Fort Smith (R=0.30, Alt=180 m)
 HRMS=  Hermanus (R=4.58, Alt=26 m)
 HUAN=  Huancayo (R=12.92, Alt=3400 m)
 ICRB=  Izana Cosmic Ray Observatory (bare) (R=11.50, Alt=2390 m)
 ICRO=  Izana Cosmic Ray Observatory (R=11.50, Alt=2390 m)
 INVK=  Inuvik (R=0.30, Alt=21 m)
 IRK2=  Irkustk 2 (R=3.64, Alt=2000 m)
 IRK3=  Irkutsk 3 (R=3.64, Alt=3000 m)
 IRKT=  Irkustk (R=3.64, Alt=435 m)
 JBGO=  JangBogo (R=0.30, Alt=29 m)
 JUNG=  IGY Jungfraujoch (R=4.49, Alt=3570 m)
 JUNG1=  NM64 Jungfraujoch (R=4.49, Alt=3475 m)
 KERG=  Kerguelen (R=1.14, Alt=33 m)
 KGSN=  Kingston (R=1.88, Alt=65 m)
 KIEL=  Kiel (R=2.36, Alt=54 m)
 KIEL2=  KielRT (R=2.36, Alt=54 m)
 LMKS=  Lomnicky Stit (R=3.84, Alt=2634 m)
 MCMU=  Mc Murdo (R=0.30, Alt=48 m)
 MCRL=  Mobile Cosmic Ray Laboratory (R=2.46, Alt=200 m)
 MGDN=  Magadan (R=2.10, Alt=220 m)
 MOSC=  Moscow (R=2.43, Alt=200 m)
 MRNY=  Mirny (R=0.03, Alt=30 m)
 MWSB=  Mawson Bare (R=0.22, Alt=30 m)
 MWSN=  Mawson (R=0.22, Alt=30 m)
 MXCO=  Mexico (R=8.28, Alt=2274 m)
 NAIN=  Nain (R=0.30, Alt=46 m)
 NANM=  Nor-Amberd (R=7.10, Alt=2000 m)
 NEU3=  Neumayer III mini neutron monitor (R=0.10, Alt=40 m)
 NEWK=  Newark (R=2.40, Alt=50 m)
 NRLK=  Norilsk (R=0.63, Alt=0 m)
 NVBK=  Novosibirsk (R=2.91, Alt=163 m)
 OULU=  Oulu (R=0.81, Alt=15 m)
 PSNM=  Doi Inthanon (Princess Sirindhorn NM) (R=16.80, Alt=2565 m)
 PTFM=  Potchefstroom (R=6.98, Alt=1351 m)
 PWNK=  Peawanuck (R=0.30, Alt=53 m)
 ROME=  Rome (R=6.27, Alt=0 m)
 SANB=  Sanae D (R=0.73, Alt=52 m)
 SNAE=  Sanae IV (R=0.73, Alt=856 m)
 SOPB=  South Pole Bare (R=0.10, Alt=2820 m)
 SOPO=  South Pole (R=0.10, Alt=2820 m)
 TERA=  Terre Adelie (R=0.01, Alt=32 m)
 THUL=  Thule (R=0.30, Alt=26 m)
 TSMB=  Tsumeb (R=9.15, Alt=1240 m)
 TXBY=  Tixie Bay (R=0.48, Alt=0 m)
 UFSZ=  Zugspitze (R=4.10, Alt=2650 m)
 YKTK=  Yakutsk (R=1.65, Alt=105 m)
 ZUGS=  Zugspitze (R=4.24, Alt=2960 m)
*javascript should be enabled on your browser



Date Selection

All dates are UTC

Last days hours mins OR

Select this option if you want to retrieve the most recent data of NMDB

From     To      OR

Select this option if you want to retrieve data for a specific time period: give the start date and end date

GLE number   OR

Select this option if you want to retrieve the data corresponding to a specific Ground Level Event.
The start-time of the plot is given by the pre-increase period of the GLE. The duration of the event can be modified in the options.

Forbush decrease date: 

Select this option if you want to retrieve the data corresponding to a specific Forbush decrease.
The start-time of the plot is given by the date and time of the onset minus 1 hour.
Note that the current list is restricted to large Forbush decreases (min 8%).



Overplot Main:

Corrected for efficiency
Corrected for pressure
Uncorrected
Pressure

With this option you can plot together, for one station only, multiple time series.
For example, choose uncorrected in the data type form and pressure in the overplot form.
If you choose to overplot pressure, an new axis will be displayed on the right.
If more than one station have been selected, an error message will be displayed.
For each time serie you can define your own prefered color:
Using the form, just click on the color box next to the serie's name*.
You can also use the color transparency (see style options) if some plots overlap.




Overplot Ri data:

Smoothed sunspot number
Monthly sunspot number

With this option you can plot time series of the smooth sunspot number and the monthly sunspot number.
Both are drawn on the same plot as the NM values, and the scale is displayed on the right side. You can
also change the color of the plot.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Smoothed Sunspot Numbers and Monthly Sunspot Numbers are provided by the Solar Influences
Data Analysis Center (SIDC), Royal Observatory of Belgium.
Important Notice: The Calculation of 'Monthly mean total sunspot number' (Ri) and 'Smoothed monthly total sunspot number' (Ri12)
changed on July 1st, 2015. The indices (Ri and Ri12) displayed on NEST are the new ones. Details of modifications
operated by SILSO/SIDC are explained on SILSO website.




GOES proton and Kp plots:

GOES proton plot (max 15 days)
Goes data (protons >10MeV, > 50MeV, > 100MeV, >500MeV) is displayed on a separate plot and is available only from 04/2003. Note that GOES primary SWPC satellite for protons regularly changes. You can find more informations on GOES satellites here: https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/satellite/goes/index.html GOES proton flux data is provided by the United States NOAA/National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)

Kp 3-hourly index (max 1 year)
Kp 3-hourly index is displayed on a separate plot and is provided by the Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum Postdam (GFZ) in cooperation with the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) and the International Service of Geomagnetic Indices (ISGI)

Collapse time labels
Collapse time labels is set by default. If not set, time labels will be shown under each plot.




Environmental data:

  • Inside temperature
  • Outside temperature
  • Relative Humidity
  • Wind speed (m/s)
  • Display meta-data

With this option you can plot, for only one station, time series of environmental data associated to the count rates, if any. Each time serie is displayed on a separate plot. You can also retrieve meta data (i.e. information on data) for this station, if any. Meta-data usually provide informations about specific meteorological conditions (wind, snow...) or technical modifications, etc.




NMDB tables:

NMDB database holds 3 tables for each station:

  • 1 hour validated table: it holds the validated 1 hour values. Since there is a delay related to the validation, this table may not be updated with the most recent values. However some stations might also fill these 1h values after some automated validation process.
  • Original table: original values are the count rates of a given monitor as provided by this monitor's registration system, usually 1 minute resolution. Depending on the neutron monitor station these data may have been modified by real-time quality checking procedures, which correct obvious short-lived instrumental effects such as spikes or data gaps produced by hardware and software disturbances, as well as erroneous atmospheric pressure measurements. These corrections are made under the responsibility of the data provider who also archives the raw data. Data providers can not modify this table once written.
  • Revised original table: Some validation processes (automated or supervised) run over the original data and eventual corrections are written in the revised table. Note that the original data which does not need to be revised is not duplicated in the revised table. The combination of the revised and original tables gives the "revised original" virtual table, which is the default display.

Example:
DATETIMEORIREVREVORI
2018-11-09T23:02:00122.3123.4123.4
2018-11-09T23:03:00123.5
-
123.5




Time resolution:

Time resolution

Modify the time resolution: "best" will give you the best time resolution available in the specified table, usually 1 minute for recent data. This is the default. In the case you decrease time resolution, data will be average from the original resolution.

Important In the NMDB the “timestamp” stands for the begin of the measurement time interval, not for the end or the middle. Measurements begin at the start of a minute (for minute data, seconds should be 00) or of an hour (for 1h measurements, seconds and minutes are 00). The total count rates of the station are stored as counts/second and pressures are stored in mbar.

Important Choosing '1h' in the time resolution field is not the same as choosing the 1hour validated table (see also Note 1 & 2)

Note 1
In order to reduce computation time and to display the results in a fast manner, values may be automatically averaged to a lower time resolution and/or could be retrieved from the 1hour table, depending on the query size. Check the plot title or the log file.
Example query 1: 1min time resolution for 1year and 1 single station => 1min values averaged over 30mins.
Example query 2: 1min time resolution for 6months and 8 stations => 1hour values averaged over 2hours.

Note 2
When the user asks for a time resolution lower or equal to 2 hours, data is automatically averaged from the 1 hour values.

Note 3
You can use the "force" parameter to force a better time resolution than what is automatically determined. But:
- This will increase the computation time.
- There is still a limitation. This shall give you a better time resolution but may not give you the best one.

Note 4
1 Carr. rot. = 1 Carrington rotation = 27.2753 days*
Averaging by this amount should correspond to Carrington's rotations but MySQL results could be weird: use with caution.


Smooth width:

This is the width of the smoothing window. The smoothing is a classical unweighted sliding-average smooth, i.e. each value V of the time serie is replaced by the average of 2n+1 (= width) values: n values before and n values after V. The width should be positive and lower than 100. If a width value is even, then width+1 will be used instead.

Important notice
The width of the window is a number of points, not a duration. i.e. if you get 10 min averaged data and Smooth width is set, the 10 min averaged data points will be smoothed (not the 1min data)




Data type:

  • Pressure and efficiency corrected: with atmospheric pressure correction and further correction factors
    applied by the station (changes in the building, the number of tubes, the type of tubes, the registration system, etc.)
  • Pressure corrected: with atmospheric pressure correction
  • Uncorrected: without pressure correction
  • Pressure: only pressure display




Scaling Options:

Include outliers:
Select this option to include the most extreme values for the scaling of the plot. Otherwise the scale is computed using the MAD (Median Absolute Deviation) which discards these outliers.

Relative scale:
This option will either:

  • Display the variations in % relative to the mean instead of counts/s (one station)
  • Display time series in parallel, with a fixed offset between them (multiple stations)
In the first case, the mean value is computed as the mean of values comprised in the interval [median + n*MAD, median - n*MAD] where MAD is the Median Absolute Deviation (i.e. we compute the mean after excluding possible outliers).
In the second case the same mean value "M" is computed for each time series "T".

What you get on the plot is:
n * offset + level * ( T / M ), where "offset" represent the distance between parallel plots (set to 4 by default, but user-adjustable), "n"=0,1,2,3... and "level" is set to 20 by default. Note that these parameters have no other purpose than representing multiple times series in a convenient way.


Example for 3 stations:
  • Tkiel plot = 0 + 20*Tkiel/Mkiel
  • Toulu plot = 4 + 20*Toulu/Moulu
  • Tkerg plot = 8 + 20*Tkerg/Mkerg

Interval between parallel plots:
The offset defined above.

Specify your own Y axis scale:
Define your own limits for the Y axis, the min and the max. You can define either min or max or both. The option "ignore anomalous values" will not be taken into account in this case.

Define your own baseline interval
If you want to compare 2 or more stations, it might be useful to set up a common baseline interval, the same way baseline intervals are defined for GLEs. Time series will be scaled using the mean value within this interval (you might also set the offset define above to 0). The chosen interval must be within the time range defined in "date selection". Note that this will only be possible in relative scale and that it will disable some navigation options.

Event Options:

Adjust pre-increase level:
In the case you want to plot a specific GLE or FD, this option will adjust time series from all stations to a common level (pre-increase level, see 'relative scale' in 'scaling options' for pre-increase level calculation). The values are then given as the increase in % above this level. This option is not compatible with "ignore anomalous values for scaling". By default the GLE duration is set to 10 hours. By "duration" we mean time after the end of the baseline interval, a GLE usually starts within the next hour. The baseline for FD is given by the hour before the event. The default duration is arbitrarily computed as 2.5*tmin+5 (tmin=time from the onset to FD minimum).

Normalize flux to 1
Every time serie is scaled so that the maximum equal 1.

Specify the event duration:
You can set the duration parameter to any integer between 1 hour and 99 hours.

Style options (under construction!)

  • Show gaps: Avoid drawing a line if there is a data gap. Side effect: 'display null values' (see ascii options) is also set.
  • Color transparency of the plot: between 0 and 100%, 0% means no transparency. This option could
    be useful if some plots are superimposed or if the short time resolution makes the plot difficult to read.
  • Background color
  • Margin color
  • Text color
  • Set step style
  • Show X axis grid
  • Show Y axis grid
  • Show median line

Ascii options

If ascii is chosen for a GLE/FD together with relative scale, the relative scale is displayed in the ascii file (only if a single station is selected)

Fractional year
the date timestamp in the ascii file will be eg 1996.4285 instead of 1996-06-05 20:00:00. The leap years are taken into account in the calculation.

Display null values
If there is no data (neither corrected, uncorrected or pressure) for a given timestamp and a given station, there is no entry in NMDB database for this timestamp. When retrieving ascii data from NMDB, the default is to display only what is in the DB. If you want to see data gaps filled with null values, check this option. Note that the gaps may already be filled with null values if more than one station is retrieved.

Side effect:
- also sets 'show gaps' of 'style options'
- If a given station has no data at all for the date range requested (in multi station requests), it will still appear in the table (default is to discard this column)