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

The MMS HPCA instruments measure the energy and composition of magnetospheric plasmas in the energy range from 1 eV to 40 keV. The dataset likely contains arrays of counts for five ion species (H+, He++, He+, O+, and background) across 63 energies and 16 elevation anodes, acquired every 0.625 seconds. It is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ion species distribution based on counts for protons, alpha particles, helium ions, and singly charged oxygen.
• Studying plasma energy spectra based on measurements across 63 energy levels.
• Investigating temporal plasma dynamics based on data acquired every 0.625 seconds.
• Modeling magnetospheric processes based on ion composition and energy data.

Strengths

• Data is acquired at a high temporal resolution of 0.625 seconds.
• Measures five distinct ion species (H+, He++, He+, O+, and background).
• Covers a wide energy range from 1 eV to 40 keV.

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 (HPCA) instruments on the MMS spacecraft.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 08:57:30.159009; freshness should be verified.