MMS HPCA: Magnetospheric Ion Composition Data at 0.625-Second Resolution

Hot Plasma Composition Analyzer (HPCA) instruments on the MMS spacecraft measure ion energy and composition from 1 eV to 40 keV. The Level 2 burst mode data provides arrays of counts for five ion species at 63 energies across 16 elevation anodes, acquired every 0.625 seconds. The data is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyze ion species distribution based on counts for protons, alpha particles, helium ions, and singly charged oxygen.
• Study plasma energy spectra based on measurements across 63 energy levels.
• Investigate temporal plasma dynamics based on data collected every 0.625 seconds.
• Model magnetospheric processes based on multi-dimensional ion count arrays across elevation and azimuth.

Strengths

• Data includes counts for five distinct ion species: H+, He++, He+, O+, and background.
• Energy measurements span 63 discrete levels within a range from 1 eV to 40 keV.
• Time resolution is 0.625 seconds, capturing half a spacecraft spin period.

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 analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measured by the Hot Plasma Composition Analyzer instruments on the MMS spacecraft.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 09:16:41.747899; freshness should be verified.