MMS 4: Magnetospheric Satellite Position and Magnetic Field Data at 30 ms Resolution

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale 4 spacecraft provides Level-2 science data at a 30-millisecond burst resolution. The dataset includes spacecraft position, velocity, attitude, and magnetic ephemeris calculated using the Tsyganenko 1989 model for disturbed conditions. It contains variables such as magnetic field measurements, magnetic footpoints, loss cone angles, L-shell, magnetic local time, and activity indices like Dst and Kp.

Use Cases

• Modeling disturbed magnetospheric conditions based on the Tsyganenko 1989 magnetic field model.
• Analyzing magnetic field line topology and footpoint locations based on the provided tracing calculations.
• Correlating spacecraft measurements with geomagnetic activity using the included Dst and Kp indices.
• Transforming coordinate systems for spatial analysis using the provided rotational quaternions.

Strengths

• Data is provided at a high 30-millisecond time resolution for burst mode analysis.
• Includes calculated variables like magnetic footpoints, loss cone angles, and minimum field strength along field lines.
• Supports coordinate transformations between GEI and 11 other systems, including GSE and SM.

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, which may require specialized tools for access and parsing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Magnetospheric Multiscale 4 spacecraft and processed into Level-2 science data.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 06:05:26.957906; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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