ISEE-1: Propagated Solar Wind Magnetic Field Measurements at 60-Second Resolution

NASA's ISEE-1 satellite data provides tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer measurements in GSE coordinates, propagated to a position just outside the Earth's bow shock. The data was constructed by Dr. J.M. Weygand for Prof. R.L. McPherron under NSF grants ATM 02-1798 and ATM 02-08501, primarily for superposed epoch studies. The solar wind data is linearly interpolated to a 60-second resolution using a method based on the minimum variance technique.

Use Cases

• Predicting interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) propagation delays based on the described minimum variance technique.
• Conducting superposed epoch analyses of magnetospheric events using the propagated solar wind data.
• Modeling solar wind conditions near Earth's bow shock based on the propagated and interpolated measurements.
• Analyzing time-series correlations between solar wind parameters and geomagnetic activity.

Strengths

• Data is propagated to a consistent reference point just outside the nominal bow shock (about 17, 0, 0 Re).
• Uses a documented propagation method outlined in peer-reviewed publications by Dan Weimer et al. [2003; 2004].
• Data was constructed for specific NSF-funded studies (GEM Grant ATM 02-1798 and Space Weather Grant ATM 02 08501).

Limitations

• The propagation method does not work well for shocks and minimum variance directions with tilts greater than 70 degrees of the sun-earth line.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Propagated solar wind data from ISEE-1, linearly interpolated to 1-minute resolution using MATLAB's interp1.m function.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 13:36:18.351735; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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