Pioneer 11 Plasma Analyzer Hourly Solar Wind Measurements

Hourly resolution data from the Pioneer 11 Plasma Analyzer includes bulk velocity, proton number density, temperature, and flow angles. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration collected this data, with coordinate systems switching from a spacecraft-centered ecliptic to an RTN heliographic system after January 31, 1989. Files contain ASCII data records with speeds in km/s, densities in #/cc, and temperatures in Kelvin.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind propagation based on hourly averaged bulk velocity and density parameters
• Analyzing temporal shifts in plasma flow angles based on the described coordinate system change
• Correlating proton temperature with spacecraft trajectory data mentioned in the description
• Studying long-term solar wind trends using the multi-year file structure (p10_XX_YYh.asc)

Strengths

• Data includes five distinct types: 'REDR' and EDR, Spectral, summary parameter, hourly averaged parameter, and trajectory data
• Parameters are derived using one of three documented processing schemes, suggesting methodological rigor
• Explicit documentation of measurement units (km/s, #/cc, K) and coordinate systems (ecliptic, RTN)

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Last updated 2026-03-13 05:37:42.415321; freshness should be verified

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Pioneer 11 Plasma Analyzer instrument, processed using one of three documented schemes.

Time Range

Data spans multiple years, with a noted procedural change after January 31, 1989.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:37:42.415321

Geography

Interplanetary space along the Pioneer 11 spacecraft trajectory.