MMS 4 Magnetic Ephemeris and Coordinates (MEC) with Tsyganenko 1989 Model

MMS 4 Magnetic Ephemeris and Coordinates (MEC) Level-2 science data provides spacecraft position, velocity, attitude, and magnetic field parameters at 30 ms burst resolution. NASA produced this dataset using the Tsyganenko 1989 magnetic field model for quiet magnetospheric conditions. It includes magnetic field measurements, footpoint tracing, loss cone angles, L-shell, magnetic local time, and coordinate transformation quaternions.

Use Cases

• Model spacecraft trajectory and magnetic field interactions based on position, velocity, and attitude data.
• Analyze magnetic field line geometry and footpoint locations based on field tracing calculations.
• Study magnetospheric activity correlations based on included Dst and Kp indices.
• Perform coordinate transformations between space physics reference frames based on provided rotational quaternions.

Strengths

• Data is calculated using the established Tsyganenko 1989 magnetic field model.
• Provides high-resolution (30 ms) burst mode measurements.
• Includes a wide range of derived parameters like L-shell, magnetic local time, and loss cone angles.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is modeled for quiet magnetospheric conditions, which may not represent active periods.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Calculated from spacecraft measurements using the Tsyganenko 1989 magnetic field model.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 08:36:06.930516; freshness should be verified.