PSP FIELDS DFB: Search Coil Magnetometer Spectral Data from Parker Solar Probe

The Parker Solar Probe FIELDS instrument's Digital Fields Board provides calibrated power spectral densities for magnetic fields and voltages below 75 kHz. Data is calibrated for instrument gain and filter responses, with quantities expressed in sensor coordinates and units of nanoTesla squared per Hertz or Volts squared per Hertz. This Level 2 dataset is produced by NASA and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing solar wind turbulence and wave activity based on calibrated magnetic field power spectral densities.
• Studying low-frequency electromagnetic phenomena near the Sun based on spectra with pseudo-logarithmically spaced frequency bins.
• Comparing magnetic field components in different sensor coordinate systems ([d,e,f] vs [u,v,w]) based on the provided rotation matrix.
• Investigating high-frequency noise characteristics based on the described non-physical power trend introduced by digital filter compensation.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated for six specific factors including Hanning window, in-band gain, and analog/digital filter responses.
• Spectral data has a typical cadence of 30 seconds during solar encounters within 0.25 AU of the Sun.
• Provides a defined rotation matrix for converting between coordinate systems used in different solar orbits.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Corrections for plasma sheath impedance and antenna effective length are not applied in this Level 2 product.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Digital Fields Board (DFB) component of the FIELDS experiment on the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft.

Time Range

Covers solar orbits, with specific coordinate systems noted for orbits 1-2 and orbits 3+.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 05:46:23.206007; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Data collected in-situ by the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft in the solar environment.