Explorer 33: 3-Minute Solar Wind Plasma Parameters from MIT Faraday Cup

NASA's Explorer 33 satellite collected 3-minute resolution measurements of solar wind plasma using an MIT Faraday Cup. The data includes parameters such as flow speed, direction angles, ion thermal speed, and density, stored in annual ASCII files. There are no spacecraft position data in the records.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind propagation based on flow speed and direction angles.
• Analyzing plasma density variations for space weather forecasting.
• Studying ion thermal speed to understand solar wind heating processes.
• Correlating solar wind parameters with geomagnetic activity indices.

Strengths

• High temporal resolution of 3 minutes for solar wind parameters.
• Data originates from a NASA satellite mission with a specific instrument (MIT Faraday Cup).
• Parameters include flow speed, direction angles, ion thermal speed, and density.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data lacks spacecraft position records, limiting spatial context.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from the MIT Faraday Cup instrument on the Explorer 33 (AIMP 1, IMP D) satellite.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 07:18:28.961274; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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