MMS HPCA Moments: Magnetospheric Ion Composition Data

MMS HPCA Moments, Level 2, Burst Survey, 10 s Data provides measurements of magnetospheric plasmas from the Hot Plasma Composition Analyzer instruments. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) collected this data, which includes counts for five ion species across 63 energies and 16 azimuths per 10-second interval. The dataset was last updated on March 13, 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ion species distribution in the magnetosphere based on counts for protons, alpha particles, helium ions, singly charged oxygen, and background.
• Studying plasma energy spectra across the 1 eV to 40 keV range based on measurements at 63 energy levels.
• Investigating spatial anisotropy of plasma flows based on data from 16 elevation anodes and azimuths.
• Modeling magnetospheric dynamics using high-temporal-resolution data acquired every 10 seconds.

Strengths

• Data includes measurements for five distinct ion species: H+, He++, He+, O+, and background counts.
• Energy range spans from 1 eV to 40 keV, measured at 63 discrete energy levels.
• Spatial resolution is provided by 16 elevation anodes and 16 azimuths per measurement cycle.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is stored in BIN format, which may require specialized tools for access and 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 08:58:12.866417; freshness should be verified.