SAMPEX Fluxes: 30-Second Averaged Cosmic Ray Measurements

SAMPEX Fluxes are derived from measurements by four instruments onboard the Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer satellite. Each file contains one day of 30-second averaged fluxes for 156 variables, totaling about 4 MB per file. The dataset is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze electron flux variations based on PET instrument measurements in the 1.5-6 MeV and 2.5-14 MeV ranges.
• Study helium ion composition based on HILT instrument measurements from the 4-9 and 9-38 MeV/nucleon channels.
• Model proton flux dynamics based on MAST instrument measurements in the 5-12 MeV range.
• Assemble energy spectra for Z>3 particles by combining contributions from all four instruments as described.
• Validate particle flux models using standard deviations and quality flags accompanying each flux value.

Strengths

• Data includes fluxes from four distinct instruments (HILT, LICA, MAST, PET) providing multi-instrument validation.
• Each flux value is accompanied by its standard deviation and a quality flag.
• Files contain 156 variables per record, suggesting a multi-dimensional view of particle events.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description states fluxes are from a subset of rate channels, indicating a curated selection rather than a complete raw data dump.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from measurements made by instruments onboard the SAMPEX satellite.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 11:45:12.113413; freshness should be verified.