Voyager 2 Saturn Plasma Electron Parameters from 96-Second Spectra

VOYAGER 2 SATURN PLASMA DERIVED ELECTRON PARAMETERS 96 SEC contains electron parameters in the PLS energy range (10-5950 eV) measured during the Voyager 2 Saturn encounter. The dataset, from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, includes total moment density, temperature, and fits for thermal and hot electron components. A complete description of the data set is in Sittler et al. (1983).

Use Cases

• Modeling Saturn's magnetospheric plasma environment based on derived electron density and temperature parameters.
• Analyzing electron energy distributions based on the described fits with thermal and 1-3 hot Maxwellian components.
• Assessing data reliability for scientific studies based on the documented error warnings for regions inside 6 Rs and occultation zones.

Strengths

• Parameters are calculated in several ways, including total moments and multi-component Maxwellian fits.
• Includes diagnostic metrics such as the chi-square value for each spectral fit.
• Data provenance is documented with a reference to the peer-reviewed description in Sittler et al. (1983).

Limitations

• The spacecraft charge is not calculated consistently, which may result in factor of 2-3 errors in the thermal electron density.
• Data is described as unreliable inside 6 Rs and in the occultation regions.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Derived from Plasma Science (PLS) instrument measurements on the Voyager 2 spacecraft during its Saturn encounter.

Time Range

During the Voyager 2 Saturn encounter.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 07:51:55.319712; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Saturn's magnetosphere and surrounding space.