ACE SWICS: Solar Wind Ion Composition and Speed Parameters, 2-Hour Data

ACE SWICS data uniquely determines the chemical and ionic charge state composition of the solar wind, measuring speeds above 300 km/s for protons. This Level 2 release from NASA uses redesigned analysis methods to account for instrumental effects and provide statistical error estimates. The dataset includes a solar wind type parameter classifying wind as streamer, coronal hole, CME, or unidentified.

Use Cases

• Classifying solar wind types (streamer, coronal hole, CME) based on the provided solar wind type parameter.
• Analyzing elemental abundance ratios (e.g., He/O, Fe/O) to study solar coronal processes.
• Investigating solar wind kinetic properties using ion speed and thermal speed measurements.
• Studying solar wind charge state composition via average charge states and charge state ratios (e.g., C+6/C+4).

Strengths

• Data represents a major new update produced with completely redesigned analysis methods to account more rigorously for instrumental and statistical effects.
• Rare elements are identified more reliably and estimates of statistical error are provided.
• Release notes describe the data, methods, and issues concerning data quality and measurement uncertainty.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measured by the ACE Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS) instrument.

Time Range

Time series measurements, specific range not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:32:40.551947; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Heliospheric, measured at the ACE satellite location.