CASSINI HRD V17.0: Saturn Dust Flux and Particle Mass Distribution

NASA's Cassini Orbiter collected dust flux and particle mass distribution data via the University of Chicago's High Rate Detector (HRD) instrument. This dataset includes all HRD measurements recorded through December 31, 2016. The data is hosted on Data.gov and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling the dust flux environment around Saturn based on the measured particle impacts.
• Analyzing the mass distribution of interplanetary dust particles in the outer solar system.
• Calibrating or validating dust detector instrument models using the referenced HRD description (Srama et al., 2004).

Strengths

• Data collection spans the Cassini mission through a specific end date (December 31, 2016).
• The dataset is described by a peer-reviewed instrument paper (Srama et al., 2004).
• Data is sourced from a definitive NASA mission and hosted on a government platform.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), University of Chicago

Collection Method

Measured by the High Rate Detector (HRD) instrument on the Cassini Orbiter.

Time Range

Through December 31, 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 18:35:12.312732; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Saturnian system (spacecraft trajectory)