MMS 4 Magnetic Ephemeris and Coordinates with Tsyganenko 1989 Model

MMS 4 spacecraft Level-2 science data provides magnetic ephemeris calculated using the Tsyganenko 1989 model for quiet magnetospheric conditions. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration product includes spacecraft position, velocity, attitude, magnetic field measurements, and traced magnetic field line footpoints. Data is available at a 30-second time resolution.

Use Cases

• Modeling spacecraft magnetic field line footprints based on northern and southern hemisphere footpoint tracing
• Analyzing magnetospheric conditions based on magnetic local time, magnetic latitude, and L-shell variables
• Studying magnetic field strength variations based on footpoint and minimum field line strength calculations
• Performing coordinate transformations based on rotational quaternions for GEI to BSC, GEO, GSE, and SM systems
• Correlating spacecraft data with geomagnetic activity based on ancillary Dst and Kp indices

Strengths

• Data includes magnetic ephemeris calculated using the established Tsyganenko 1989 magnetic field model
• Product provides multiple calculated variables including magnetic field footpoints, loss cone angles, and field line status
• Rotational quaternions enable coordinate transformation into six different coordinate systems

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected from the Magnetospheric Multiscale 4 (MMS 4) spacecraft.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 08:34:33.981682