Voyager 1 Plasma Science: Solar Wind Plasma Hourly Averages

NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft collected this dataset of solar wind plasma parameters as one-hour averages. The data includes proton speed, density, thermal speed, and velocity vector components in the RTN coordinate system, derived by fitting a convected isotropic Maxwellian distribution to the measurements. The dataset was last updated on 2026-04-10.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind propagation based on proton speed and density measurements.
• Analyzing plasma velocity vector evolution based on VR, VT, and VN components.
• Studying long-term trends in proton thermal speed and temperature.
• Investigating coordinate system transformations using the RTN (Radial-Tangential-Normal) framework.

Strengths

• Data includes one-sigma error estimates, with speed errors typically less than 0.5%.
• Velocity components are provided in a defined RTN coordinate system for spatial analysis.
• Proton temperature can be derived from the thermal speed column using the provided conversion factor.

Limitations

• The VT and VN velocity components are noted as often unreliable after 1989.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Sampling times vary from 12 to 192 seconds, which may affect temporal consistency.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Data obtained by fitting a convected isotropic Maxwellian distribution to Voyager 1 Plasma Science (PLS) instrument measurements.

Time Range

Temporal coverage is implied by the mission timeline and the note about parameter reliability after 1989, but exact start and end dates are not specified.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 05:41:30.639331; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Heliospheric, collected by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in interstellar space.