MMS 4: Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft Position and Magnetic Field Data

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale 4 (MMS 4) spacecraft provides Level-2 science data at 30-second resolution. The data includes spacecraft position, velocity, attitude, and magnetic ephemeris calculated using the Tsyganenko 1989 model for disturbed conditions. It also contains magnetic field measurements, footpoint tracing, loss cone angles, and activity indices like Dst and Kp.

Use Cases

• Modeling disturbed magnetospheric conditions based on the Tsyganenko 1989 magnetic field model.
• Tracing magnetic field lines to find spacecraft footpoints in the northern and southern hemispheres.
• Analyzing space weather activity using the included Dst and Kp indices.
• Performing coordinate transformations between GEI and systems like BSC, GEO, GSE, and SM using provided quaternions.

Strengths

• Data is produced by NASA, a leading space agency.
• Includes magnetic field line tracing and calculation of loss cone angles and minimum field strength.
• Provides coordinate transformation quaternions for 6 different systems.

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.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

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

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 06:04:14.232865; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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