LANL1994-MPA: Magnetospheric Plasma Measurements at 87-Second Resolution

Magnetospheric plasma data from the LANL 1994-084 satellite at geosynchronous orbit. The dataset includes universal time, density, velocity, and temperature for low and high energy ions and electrons, along with position and instrument status, recorded at approximately 87-second intervals. It is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling magnetospheric plasma dynamics based on ion and electron density and velocity measurements.
• Analyzing space weather effects on satellites based on high and low energy particle temperature data.
• Correlating satellite position with plasma conditions based on the provided coordinate systems.
• Monitoring instrument health and data quality based on the included status flags.

Strengths

• Provides measurements for both ions and electrons, including separate data for low and high energy particles.
• Data is presented in multiple coordinate systems (GEI, spacecraft, polar geographic, polar magnetic).
• Includes a combination of physical parameters (density, velocity, temperature) and operational data (position, status flags).

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Magnetospheric Plasma Analyzer (MPA) instrument on the LANL 1994-084 satellite.

Time Range

1994 (implied from satellite name), but specific temporal coverage is not detailed.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 06:36:57.677281; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Geosynchronous orbit around Earth.