MMS 4 Fast Plasma Investigation: Electron Distribution Moments at 30 ms Resolution

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission provides plasma distribution moments from its Dual Electron Spectrometer. Data are available at high-resolution Burst Mode (30 ms) and lower-resolution Survey Mode (4.5 s and 60 s). The dataset includes standard moment calculations and additional instrument state parameters.

Use Cases

• Modeling magnetospheric plasma behavior based on electron distribution moments
• Analyzing high-temporal-resolution plasma events based on 30 ms burst data
• Comparing plasma states inside and outside mission regions of interest based on survey mode data
• Studying instrument calibration and operational state effects based on included annotation parameters

Strengths

• Data originates from NASA's authoritative Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission
• Provides plasma moments at multiple temporal resolutions (30 ms burst, 4.5 s and 60 s survey)
• Includes supplementary parameters characterizing the instrument system state

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the Fast Plasma Instrument (FPI) on the MMS spacecraft.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 08:35:49.486363; freshness should be verified