ACE SWEPAM: Solar Wind Data Propagated to Earth's Bow Shock at 60-Second Resolution

Propagated solar wind data from the ACE satellite, processed to a 60-second cadence and projected to a point just outside Earth's bow shock. The dataset was constructed by Dr. J.M. Weygand for Prof. R.L. McPherron under NSF grants ATM 02-1798 and ATM 02-08501, primarily for superposed epoch studies. The propagation method uses a minimum variance technique on the magnetic field, as detailed in publications by Dan Weimer et al. (2003, 2004).

Use Cases

• Predicting interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) propagation delays based on the described minimum variance technique.
• Conducting superposed epoch studies of solar wind events using the propagated, time-aligned data.
• Analyzing solar wind velocity and magnetic field correlations near Earth's magnetosphere.
• Validating space weather models with high-resolution, propagated in-situ measurements.

Strengths

• Data is propagated to a consistent reference point (approximately 17, 0, 0 Earth radii) for magnetospheric studies.
• Time resolution is standardized to 60 seconds through linear interpolation.
• Construction is documented with specific references to peer-reviewed methodology (Weimer et al., 2003, 2004).
• Dataset is hosted by NASA, an authoritative source for space science data.

Limitations

• The propagation method reportedly does not work well for shocks and minimum variance directions with tilts greater than 70 degrees of the sun-earth line.
• 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 (NASA)

Collection Method

Data from the ACE SWEPAM instrument, propagated using a minimum variance technique and linearly interpolated to 60-second resolution.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 13:49:06.617000; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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