Helios 1: Hourly Magnetic Field and Plasma Data in RTN Coordinates

Helios 1 hourly merged magnetic field and plasma data was created at NSSDC for COHOWeb. The dataset provides magnetic field vectors and plasma flow direction angles in RTN coordinates, with spacecraft position data in Heliographic inertial coordinates. It was last updated on March 13, 2026, by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind propagation based on plasma flow direction angles.
• Analyzing interplanetary magnetic field structure based on RTN coordinate magnetic vectors.
• Correlating spacecraft position in HGI coordinates with local plasma conditions.
• Studying temporal variations in the heliospheric environment based on hourly resolution data.

Strengths

• Data is provided in standard RTN and HGI coordinate systems for space physics.
• Dataset is sourced from the authoritative NASA Helios 1 mission.
• Last update timestamp of 2026-03-13 suggests active curation.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Merged data set created at NSSDC for COHOWeb from the Helios 1 spacecraft.

Time Range

Hourly resolution.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 07:09:38.528922; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Heliographic inertial (HGI) coordinates covering the spacecraft's trajectory in the inner heliosphere.