MMS FPI: Partial Plasma Distribution Moments from Burst Mode

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission provides plasma data from the Fast Plasma Investigation instrument. Partial distribution moments are calculated from electron spectrometer data at 30-millisecond burst resolution, 4.5-second survey resolution, and 60-second slow survey resolution depending on mission phase and region. The dataset includes annotated time stamps and instrument state parameters.

Use Cases

• Analyzing plasma density variations based on partial density moments (density_part)
• Studying electron velocity distributions based on partial moments over limited velocity space
• Correlating instrument state with plasma measurements based on included annotation parameters
• Comparing high-resolution burst mode data with lower-resolution survey data for event analysis

Strengths

• Data is collected by NASA's MMS mission, a flagship space physics project
• Provides multiple temporal resolutions (30 ms burst, 4.5 s survey, 60 s slow survey) for different analysis needs
• Includes partial moments calculated from specific energy steps to infinity, offering specialized plasma parameters

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Not all burst resolution data are downlinked per mission design, creating potential gaps

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the Fast Plasma Investigation Dual Electron Spectrometer instrument on the Magnetospheric Multiscale satellites.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 09:24:41.945583; freshness should be verified