PSP FIELDS DFB: Differential Voltage and Magnetic Field Burst Waveforms

NASA's Parker Solar Probe FIELDS instrument provides calibrated, low-frequency (<75 kHz) burst waveform data. The Level 2 data products contain differential voltage measurements in Volts and magnetic field measurements in nT, sampled at rates up to 150,000 samples per second during solar encounters. These data are pre-sorted by onboard competitive selection algorithms and telemetered to Earth for scientist-selected regions of interest.

Use Cases

• Analyzing electric field fluctuations based on differential voltage (dV12, dV34) sensor data.
• Studying magnetic field dynamics based on search coil magnetometer (u, v, w) sensor data.
• Investigating plasma wave phenomena using high-cadence (up to 150k samples/s) time-series data.
• Comparing calibrated Level 2 data with future Level 3 products that include plasma sheath corrections.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated for DFB in-band gain, analog/digital filter responses, and search coil preamplifier gain/phase.
• Sample rate can reach 150,000 samples per second when the probe is within 0.25 AU of the Sun.
• Data originates from a major NASA mission, the Parker Solar Probe, with referenced scientific publications.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Data collection timeframe is not specified.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 08:16:52.093971; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Data collected in the solar environment, particularly within 0.25 AU of the Sun.