Cluster EDI: Electron Drift Instrument Data from NASA

Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) data from the Cluster mission measures electric fields and magnetic field gradients in Earth's magnetosphere. The instrument emits a weak electron beam and measures its drift at a fundamental time step of 2 milliseconds. The dataset is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Calculate electric field vectors based on electron drift measurements.
• Analyze magnetic field gradients in regions like the magnetotail or cusp.
• Model plasma dynamics in the solar wind and magnetosheath.
• Correlate EDI measurements with data from other Cluster instruments like FGM and PEACE.

Strengths

• Data is collected at a high temporal resolution with a fundamental time step of 2 milliseconds.
• Includes inter-experiment links for coordination with other Cluster instruments.
• Based on a documented instrument design described in the ESA SP-1159 report.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is stored in a BIN format, which may require specialized tools for access.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measured by the Electron Drift Instrument on the Cluster spacecraft.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 11:12:31.444715; freshness should be verified.