STEREO-A PLASTIC: Helium Ion Phase Space Densities and Proton Moments, 10-Minute Averages

STEREO-A PLASTIC data provides phase space densities for Helium pickup ions (He+) and proton plasma moments from the STEREO-A spacecraft. The dataset includes 10-minute, 1-hour, and 24-hour averages of He+ densities across 51 normalized velocity ranges relative to the solar wind speed. NASA maintains this data, with the last update recorded on 2026-03-13.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind interaction with interstellar neutrals based on He+ pickup ion data.
• Analyzing temporal variations in ion composition using the 10-minute to 24-hour averaged data.
• Studying correlations between proton plasma moments and helium ion densities.
• Calibrating or validating heliospheric simulations with in-situ spacecraft measurements.

Strengths

• Data is delivered to the public domain on a regular basis.
• Includes 10-minute, 1-hour, and 24-hour temporal resolutions for analysis.
• Efforts are made to include the latest known calibration and background determinations.

Limitations

• Calibration and background determinations are expected to undergo revision.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), STEREO PLASTIC Investigation led by A.B. Galvin.

Collection Method

Collected by the PLASTIC instrument on the STEREO-A spacecraft.

Time Range

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Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:43:23.625248; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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