Cluster-EDI: Electron Drift and Electric Field Measurements from ESA's Cluster Mission

The Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) data from the ESA Cluster spacecraft provides measurements of electron drift velocity and electric fields in Earth's magnetosphere. Data products include time series of three-component vectors at 1-4 second resolution, ambient electron counts at 16 ms, and 3-hour overview plots. The dataset is maintained by NASA and includes raw binary files and auxiliary data.

Use Cases

• Modeling magnetospheric electric fields based on the three-component electric field vectors in GSE coordinates.
• Analyzing electron dynamics based on drift velocity time series at 0.5-1.0 keV energies.
• Studying pitch angle distributions based on electron count data at 0, 90, and 180 degrees.
• Calibrating instrument data using the included auxiliary and intercalibration datasets.

Strengths

• Provides three-component vector measurements for both electron drift velocity and electric field.
• Includes high-resolution electron count data at a 16-millisecond sampling rate.
• Offers data in multiple operational modes (Windshield Wiper and AE) and quality levels (PP, PPP, MPD).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Primary data files are in a binary (BIN) format, requiring specialized tools for access.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) via the ESA Cluster Science Archive.

Collection Method

Measurements from the Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) aboard the Cluster spacecraft.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 11:13:45.035994; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Earth's magnetosphere and surrounding space plasma environment.