NOAA-SWPC predicted sunspot number and F10.7 radio flux

The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides multi-year forecast of the monthly sunspot number and the monthly solar radio fluxF10.7. Predicted values are based on the consensus of the Solar Cycle 24 Prediction Panel. The official daily and monthly sunspot numbers are determined by the World Data Center - Sunspot Index and Long-term Solar Observations (WDC-SILSO) at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. Generally, sunspot reports from observatories calculate sunspot numbers whereby each sunspot group counts as 10, and every umbra within each spot group is individually considered as 1. Therefore, no sunspots on the visible Sun would be considered as zero; while the next possible number can only be 11 or higher. The solar radio flux at 10.7 cm (2800 MHz) is an excellent indicator of solar activity. Often called the F10.7 index, it is one of the longest running records of solar activity. The F10.7 radio emissions originates high in the chromosphere and low in the corona of the solar atmosphere. The F10.7 correlates well with the sunspot number as well as a number of UltraViolet (UV) and visible solar irradiance records. The F10.7 has been measured consistently in Canada since 1947, first at Ottawa, Ontario; and then at the Penticton Radio Observatory in British Columbia, Canada. Unlike many solar indices, the F10.7 radio flux can easily be measured reliably on a day-to-day basis from the Earth’s surface, in all types of weather. Reported in “solar flux units”, (s.f.u.), the F10.7 can vary from below 50 s.f.u., to above 300 s.f.u., over the course of a solar cycle. These F10.7 measurements are provided courtesy of the National Research Council Canada in partnership with the Natural Resources Canada.