Voyager 1 Saturn LECP Far Encounter Charged Particle Rates

Voyager 1's Low Energy Charged Particle experiment measured electron and ion counting rates near Saturn. The dataset includes a subset of almost 100 LECP channels, providing 0.4-second high-resolution measurements during the far encounter. Data were collected by NASA and are globally calibrated to the extent possible.

Use Cases

• Analyze charged particle anisotropies based on the rotating head and eight angular sectors.
• Study electron and ion intensity variations near Saturn based on the 0.4-second rate measurements.
• Identify particle mass species (protons, alpha particles, nuclei) based on the described channel discrimination.
• Calibrate instrument readings based on the use of Sector 8 data covered by an aluminum sunshield.
• Model energy bandpass for ions based on the 'Energy per Nucleon' parameters described.

Strengths

• Includes almost 100 LECP channels for detailed particle analysis.
• Provides high-resolution 0.4-second measurements during the Saturn encounter.
• Data are globally calibrated, with Sector 8 used for background determination.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Conversion from 'Rate' to 'Intensity' depends on uncertain determinations like mass species and background.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by the Low Energy Charged Particle (LECP) instrument on the Voyager 1 spacecraft.

Time Range

During the Voyager 1 Saturn far encounter.

Geography

Spacecraft vicinity of Saturn.