Parker Solar Probe: FIELDS RFS Radio Spectra at 7- and 56-Second Cadence

The Parker Solar Probe's FIELDS Radio Frequency Spectrometer (RFS) provides calibrated spectral data across two frequency ranges: 10.5 kHz to 1.7 MHz (LFR) and 1.3 MHz to 19.2 MHz (HFR). Data is provided at two cadences: approximately 7 seconds during solar encounters within 0.25 AU and 56 seconds during cruise mode. This Level 2 dataset from NASA is calibrated for instrument response but not for antenna corrections, with spectral quantities in V^2/Hz.

Use Cases

• Analyzing solar radio wave spectra based on 64 logarithmically spaced frequency bins per receiver.
• Studying plasma frequency dynamics based on the 32 finely spaced frequency bins in LFR high-resolution spectra.
• Comparing solar encounter and cruise mode data based on the 7-second and 56-second time resolutions.
• Calibrating radio instrument models based on the documented preamp, PFB, and FFT processing corrections.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated for preamp, analog section, PFB, and FFT spectral processing.
• Provides high-cadence (7 s) spectra during solar encounters within 0.25 AU.
• Covers two distinct frequency ranges (LFR and HFR) with 64 bins each.

Limitations

• Corrections for base capacitance and antenna effective length are not applied (planned for Level 3).
• 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

Collected by the FIELDS Radio Frequency Spectrometer (RFS) instrument on the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft.

Time Range

Covers mission periods from launch (2018) through data collection up to the last update.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:46:39.132531; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Data collected in space along the Parker Solar Probe's trajectory, focusing on regions within 0.25 AU of the Sun.