MMS FPI: Magnetospheric Plasma Distribution Moments at 4.5-Second Resolution

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission provides plasma data from the Fast Plasma Instrument's Dual Electron Spectrometer. This Level 2 product contains integrated moments of phase space distributions, aggregated to a 4.5-second survey resolution within the mission's region of interest. The dataset includes time stamps and instrument state annotations, with data last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling magnetospheric plasma behavior based on integrated distribution moments.
• Analyzing temporal plasma variations based on 4.5-second resolution time-series data.
• Correlating instrument state with plasma measurements based on included annotation parameters.
• Studying electron spectra in different mission phases based on Fast and Slow Survey mode data.

Strengths

• Data originates from NASA's authoritative Magnetospheric Multiscale mission.
• Includes instrument state annotations and time stamps for data context.
• Last updated on 2026 03 13, indicating recent maintenance.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is provided in BIN format, which may require specialized tools for access.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from the Fast Plasma Instrument's Dual Electron Spectrometer onboard the MMS spacecraft.

Time Range

Temporal coverage is not explicitly specified in the input.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 06:31:49.883890.

Geography

Data is collected in space, specifically within the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission's region of interest.