FAST TEAMS: Ion Distribution Functions from a Satellite Spectrograph

FAST satellite's TEAMS instrument captures 3D distribution functions for four ion species—H+, O+, He+, and He++—across an energy range of 1 eV to 12,000 eV. Data are derived from a toroidal electrostatic analyzer and a time-of-flight mass analyzer, with temporal resolution dependent on telemetry mode, ranging from half a spacecraft spin to four spins. The dataset is produced by NASA and is associated with instrument descriptions published in geophysical monographs and Space Science Reviews.

Use Cases

• Modeling magnetospheric ion composition based on measured H+, O+, He+, and He++ distributions.
• Analyzing plasma dynamics and wave-particle interactions using 3D ion distribution functions over a 1 eV to 12,000 eV energy range.
• Studying temporal variations in space plasma with data resolved by spacecraft spin cycles and telemetry modes.
• Comparing ion species behavior in different solid angle segments, focusing on the 16 equatorial segments used for the CDF data product.

Strengths

• Covers four distinct ion species (H+, O+, He+, He++) enabling compositional analysis.
• Measures ion energies across a broad range from 1 eV to 12,000 eV.
• Provides three-dimensional distribution functions with angular resolution across 64 solid angle segments.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The actual time resolution varies with telemetry mode, which may complicate time-series analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data derived from the FAST satellite's Time-of-flight Energy Angle Mass Spectrograph (TEAMS) instrument.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 07:32:50.403639; freshness should be verified.