Sunspot Number [SSN]

Is a quantity that measure the number of sunspots and groups of sunspots observed on the surface of the sun in a time window.

A daily index of sunspot activity (R), defined as R = k(10g + s) where s = number of individual spots, g = number of sunspot groups, and k is an observatory factor (equal to 1 for the Zurich Observatory and adjusted for all other observatories to obtain approximately the same R number). The standard number, RI, once derived at Zurich (see Wolf number), is now being derived at Brussels and is denoted by RI. Often, the term ”sunspot number” is used in reference to the widely distributed smoothed sunspot number.