Voyager 2 LECP: Uranus Charged Particle Measurements, 1986

Voyager 2's Low Energy Charged Particle instrument recorded electron and ion intensities during its 1986 Uranus encounter. The dataset covers a three-day period from January 24 to 27, 1986, and includes angle-resolved measurements from eight directional sectors during instrument scans. NASA produced this resampled data record, which captures two distinct mechanical scanning modes used during the flyby.

Use Cases

• Modeling the Uranian magnetosphere based on in-situ charged particle measurements.
• Analyzing temporal variations in particle flux based on the documented 48-second and 96-second sampling records.
• Studying angular distributions of energetic particles from the eight directional sectors mentioned in the description.
• Comparing particle environments during the two distinct instrument scanning modes (continuous and cyclic) described.

Strengths

• Data originates from the Voyager 2 spacecraft, a primary source for Uranus encounter science.
• Covers a defined three-day encounter period from 1986-01-24 to 1986-01-27.
• Includes angular distribution data from eight instrument sectors during scanning periods.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data has a disjointed appearance due to documented stepping mode changes and angle sample switching.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Resampled data from the Low Energy Charged Particle (LECP) experiment on the Voyager 2 spacecraft.

Time Range

1986-01-24 to 1986-01 27

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 14:27:25.911230; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Spacecraft trajectory in the vicinity of Uranus.