Quarterly Bulletin on Solar Activity (QBSA)

1. History

At the meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1928 at Leiden, it was decided to publish a quarterly bulletin of daily indices of various solar phenomena. This task was assigned to the Swiss Federal Observatory (Eidgenössische Sternwarte Zürich). Bulletin for Character Figures of Solar Activity was initiated in 1928, and its volumes I and II covered the data prior to that year; volume I for the years 1923-1928, and volume II for the years 1917-1922. At the meeting of IAU in 1939 at Stockholm, it was agreed that the publication was given the present name, Quarterly Bulletin on Solar Activity (QBSA).

The aim of publishing the bulletin is to provide a definitive record of selected key data on solar activity in the form of publications. Immediate information on solar activity is covered adequately by other reports and bulletins of a provisional character.

The publication of the bulletin from 1928 to 1976 was undertaken at Zürich, and then the task had been transferred to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The service has been affiliated with FAGS since 1956, and the publication was continued with the support from FAGS. However, publication in paper was becoming out of date because of the web-based form of information exchange. Therefore the publication of QBSA was terminated in 2009.

In the following we provide the scanned PDF images of QBSA. Please tolerate dirt or smudges in older volumes. The images for years 1923-1928 and 1947-1949 were made from the volumes on loan from ETH Zürich.

2．QBSA in PDF (by Data Species)

QBSA in its recent form is made from the following five sections.
I. Sunspots

Tables of sunspot relative numbers and (since 1956) sunspot areas are given under the responsibility of Sunspot Index Data Center, Bruxelles (currently Solar Influences Data Analysis Center; SIDC). For numerical values and plots, please refer to SIDC.

PDF files
1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

II. Synoptic Charts of Solar Magnetic Fields

These synoptic charts of solar magnetic fields are constructed from daily solar magnetograms obtained with the 150-foot tower telescope of Mount Wilson Observatory, Pasadena, USA. Each chart covers one solar rotation. Solid and dashed contours represent positive and negative polarities in the plots of 1969-1976. Red and black contours represent positive and negative polarities for 1977-1996. Maps since 1997 are represented in blue (positive polarity) and red (negative).

PDF files
1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

III. Bright Chromospheric Eruptions (Flares)

Flare observations were collected and compiled by Paris Observatory at Meudon. The tabulated data give the time, coordinates, area, importance and additional information on solar flares. Digital data for 1972-1989 are available at Meudon Observatory.

PDF files
1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941
1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

IV. Coronal Intensities

Intensities of coronal emission lines of 5303 Å and 6374 Å around the solar limb at intervals of 5 degrees are tabulated. Isophotes of the 5303 Å line were produced by the High Altitude Observatory (1961-1966), NOAA (1967-1978), and Kislovodsk Observatory (1979-2006).

PDF files
1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

V. Solar Radio Emission

The data on radio emission include daily values of solar flux density at about 30 different frequencies ranging from 100 MHz to 17 GHz, and tables of distinctive events. Charts of radio emission regions on the Sun were made based on the interferometers of Nançay, France (1956-1986), CSIRO, Australia (1957-1962), and Toyokawa Observatory, Nagoya University (1972-1986).

PDF files
1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
1987 1988

Other Data

The data items which were included in the earlier volumes of QBSA are as follows.

Summary Data
1917-1933 （Calcium Flocculi, Hα Flocculi, Sunspot Relative Numbers, UV Intensity)
1934-1938 （Calcium Flocculi, Hα Flocculi, Sunspot Relative Numbers, UV Intensity)
1939-1944 （Calcium Flocculi, Hα Flocculi, Sunspot Relative Numbers)

Calcium Flocculi (Plage Regions, 1917 - 1944)
1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944

Bright Hα Flocculi (Plage Regions, 1917 - 1944)
1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944

Dark Hα Flocculi (Dark Filaments, 1917 - 1944)
1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944

320 nm Ultraviolet Intensity (1923 - 1938)
The data are included in the files in I. Sunspots.

Sunspot Groups (1947 - 1948)
The data are included in the files in I. Sunspots.

3．QBSA in PDF (by Volume/Issue Numbers)

In the following, each file corresponts to a single issue of publication. Since 1929, basically we published four issues per year. From 1979, publications were made annually, not quarterly in spite of its name, and page numbers are separately given to each section; please refer to the files provided under various data species. For years 1979-1988, only the cover and preface pages are provided below.
1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988

4．Distribution

QBSA was distributed free of charge in order to promote data exchange. The following table gives the list of distribution per country in January 1995.

Argentina 4 Hungary 4 Portugal 2
Australia 7 India 14 Romania 2
Austria 5 Indonesia 2 Russia 12
Azervaidian 1 Iran 2 Saudi Arabi 1
Belgium 6 Ireland 1 Slovakia 5
Brazil 4 Italy 17 Slovenia 1
Bulgaria 4 Japan 27 Sri Lanka 1
Canada 6 Kazakhstan 2 South Africa 2
Chile 2 Korea 1 Spain 8
China 11 Korea (DPR) 1 Sweden 4
Rep. of China 2 Lithuania 1 Switzerland 10
Cuba 1 Monaco 1 Thailand 1
Czech 5 Morocco 1 Turkey 3
Denmark 4 Mongolia 1 Ukraine 6
Ecuador 1 Netherlands 8 United Kingdom 20
Estonia 1 Norway 2 U.S.A. 76
Finland 3 New Zealand 3 Uruguay 2
France 22 Pakistan 1 Uzbekistan 1
Germany 38 Peru 2 Venezuela 3
Greece 7 Philippines 2 Viet Nam 1
Hong Kong 1 Poland 4