Voyager 1 Plasma Wave Spectrometer Raw Waveforms, 60 ms Samples

Electric field waveform samples from the Voyager 1 Plasma Wave Subsystem collected throughout its mission from launch in 1977 to beyond 130 AU. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provides this data, which includes observations from cruise phases and planetary encounters with Jupiter and Saturn. Each waveform line consists of 1600 samples collected in 55.56 ms at a 28,800 Hz sampling rate, representing raw 4-bit measurements through a 40 Hz to 12 kHz bandpass filter.

Use Cases

• Analyze plasma wave spectra and dynamics based on raw electric field waveform samples.
• Study heliospheric radio events based on the three major low-frequency events listed in the mission timeline.
• Investigate planetary magnetosphere boundaries based on bow shock crossing observations at Jupiter and Saturn.
• Model the evolution of the solar wind termination shock based on the 2004 crossing event.
• Characterize instrument performance and signal processing based on the described 4-bit resolution and 60 ms sampling intervals.

Strengths

• Data spans the entire Voyager 1 mission from 1977 launch to beyond 130 astronomical units (AU).
• Includes specific key events like planetary bow shock crossings and heliospheric radio events with precise dates.
• Waveform sampling is described in technical detail, including 4-bit resolution, 28,800 Hz rate, and a 40 Hz to 12 kHz passband.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.
• Data after 2013-11-02 was to be added on subsequent volumes; completeness for later dates is unclear.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Voyager 1 Plasma Wave Subsystem Waveform Receiver.

Time Range

1977-09 05 to at least 2015-01-01, with events documented to 2015.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 07:58:39.962596; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Interplanetary and interstellar space along Voyager 1's trajectory from Earth to beyond 130 AU.