Voyager 1 Solar Wind Plasma Measurements, 96-Second Resolution

Voyager 1 spacecraft plasma data of the solar wind, collected by NASA. The dataset contains proton speed, density, thermal speed, and velocity components in the RTN coordinate system, with sampling times ranging from 12 to 192 seconds. Data is obtained by fitting a convected isotropic Maxwellian distribution to the measurements.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind propagation based on proton speed and density measurements.
• Analyzing plasma parameter trends over time based on the time-series data.
• Studying velocity component reliability in the RTN coordinate system, with noted warnings for VT and VN after 1989.
• Converting proton thermal speed to temperature in eV using the provided conversion factor.

Strengths

• Data includes quantified error estimates, with one sigma errors typically less than 0.5% for speed and radial velocity.
• Sampling times are fine resolution, ranging from 12 to 192 seconds, with more frequent sampling early in the mission.
• Velocity components are provided in a defined RTN coordinate system for spatial analysis.

Limitations

• The VT and VN velocity parameters are noted as often not reliable after 1989.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation beyond the listed names is absent; field semantics must be fully inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data from the Voyager 1 Plasma Science (PLS) instrument, with parameters obtained by fitting a convected isotropic Maxwellian distribution.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 08:14:10.730505; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Data collected in the heliosphere and interstellar space by the Voyager 1 spacecraft.