MMS HPCA: Magnetospheric Ion Composition Measurements at 10-Second Resolution

Hot Plasma Composition Analyzer (HPCA) Moments data from the MMS mission. The instruments measure the energy and composition of magnetospheric plasmas across 63 energies for five ion species: protons, alpha particles, helium ions, singly charged oxygen, and background counts. Data is produced by NASA and consists of 16 azimuthal measurements acquired every 10 seconds.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ion species distribution in the magnetosphere based on measurements of H+, He++, He+, and O+.
• Studying plasma energy spectra across 63 distinct energy levels.
• Investigating temporal variations in magnetospheric composition using 10-second resolution burst mode data.
• Modeling spacecraft spin-phase effects on plasma measurements using 16 azimuthal data points per half-spin.

Strengths

• Measures five distinct ion species (H+, He++, He+, O+, background).
• Provides energy spectra across 63 energy levels.
• Captures data at a high temporal resolution of 10 seconds.

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 a BIN format, requiring specialized tools for access.

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 08:41:30.506047; freshness should be verified.