ACE SWEPAM: Propagated Solar Wind Data at 60-Second Resolution

ACE SWEPAM solar wind data propagated to Earth's bow shock and interpolated to 60-second resolution. The dataset was constructed by Dr. J.M. Weygand for Prof. R.L. McPherron under NSF grants ATM 02-1798 and ATM 02-08501. It uses a minimum variance technique for propagation, as described in Weimer et al. [2003; 2004], and was primarily used in superposed epoch studies.

Use Cases

• Analyzing solar wind propagation delays based on the described minimum variance technique.
• Conducting superposed epoch studies of magnetospheric events using propagated solar wind parameters.
• Modeling the impact of solar wind conditions on Earth's magnetic field based on the interpolated 60-second data.
• Investigating the limitations of propagation methods for shocks and high-tilt conditions as noted in the description.

Strengths

• Data is propagated to a specific location (17, 0, 0 Re) just outside Earth's bow shock.
• Time resolution is interpolated to a consistent 60-second interval.
• Methodology is documented with references to peer-reviewed publications (Weimer et al., 2003, 2004).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The propagation method reportedly does not work well for shocks and minimum variance directions with tilts greater than 70 degrees.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Propagation and interpolation of 1-minute resolution processed solar wind data constructed by Dr. J.M. Weygand.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:59:45.737548; freshness should be verified.