Microproduct data guidebeginner

NOAA SWPC Space Weather

Operational geomagnetic and space-weather indices for building grid, radio, and satellite-environment monitors.

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At a glance

Difficulty
Beginner — comfortable for a first prototype
Size
Tiny · ≤0.05 GB
Formats
JSON
Access
API or Download
API key
Not required
Provider
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
Updates
Near real time
Data terms
NOAA disclaimer / U.S. public domain

From source to product signal

Test a product idea in four steps

SWPC publishes JSON products for planetary K-index and related scales. Start with the compact planetary K-index file. A high Kp value is not a confirmed power-grid outage, radio blackout, or satellite anomaly.

1

Check the setup

  • Python 3.10 or newer
  • A notebook environment such as Jupyter or Google Colab
  • An internet connection
2

Access the data

  1. 1.Open the SWPC data-access page and note the JSON product directory.
  2. 2.Download the planetary K-index JSON feed.
  3. 3.Record observed versus estimated values and the retrieval timestamp.
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3

Run the Python example

Install the packages, then run the notebook cell.

python -m pip install pandas requests

import pandas as pd
import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/products/noaa-planetary-k-index.json",
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
kp = pd.DataFrame(response.json())
kp["retrieved_at_utc"] = pd.Timestamp.now(tz="UTC")
print(kp.tail(12))
4

Test a useful signal

Flag elevated planetary K-index periods

Test whether recent Kp values can trigger a bounded space-weather awareness alert.

  1. 01Convert time_tag to timestamps and kp to numbers.
  2. 02List periods at or above Kp 5 and separate observed from estimated rows.
  3. 03Explain that Kp is not a grid-outage confirmation and that NOAA scales describe potential impacts only.

Dataset details

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center is a government source. Last verified 2026-08-17. Temporal coverage: continuously updated operational products.

Theme

Environment & Hazards

Domains

Natural HazardsEnergyEmergency Management

Data types

Time SeriesOperational Data

Tasks

AlertingTrend AnalysisOperational Monitoring

Geography

Global

Formats

JSON

Provider

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center

Data terms

NOAA disclaimer / U.S. public domain