DE 2 VEFI and MAG-B: Merged Magnetic and Electric Field Measurements, 62 ms Data

From August 15, 1981 to February 16, 1983, this dataset provides daily files of merged high-resolution magnetic and electric field measurements from the Dynamics Explorer 2 satellite. It was created by NASA by combining data from the Vector Electric Field Instrument (VEFI) and Magnetometer-B (MAGB) systems, with added orbit-altitude parameters like satellite altitude and geographic coordinates. The dataset includes fill values for periods where one instrument's data was unavailable, and the total number of records varies per day.

Use Cases

• Analyzing correlations between magnetic and electric fields in the ionosphere based on the merged VEFI and MAGB measurements.
• Studying spatial variations of plasma phenomena using the added orbit-altitude parameters like geographic latitude and longitude.
• Investigating data coverage and instrument performance gaps based on the documented fill value statistics for VEFI (6.87%) and MAGB (6.54%).
• Modeling magnetospheric field lines using the included model magnetic field data in spacecraft coordinates.

Strengths

• Provides a specific temporal coverage from 1981-08-15 to 1983-02-16.
• Merges data from two distinct high-resolution instruments (VEFI and MAGB) into a single product.
• Includes added contextual parameters such as satellite altitude, geographic coordinates, and magnetic local time.
• Documentation includes specific fill value statistics for instrument data gaps (e.g., model magnetic field had fill values for 8.55% of the data).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal bias inherent to the specific 1981-1983 mission period.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Merged from original VEFI and MAGB high-resolution datasets submitted to NSSDC.

Time Range

1981-08-15 to 1983-02-16

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 07:06:48.244416; freshness should be verified.