Wind STICS: Proton Phase-Space Distribution Functions from NASA

Wind spacecraft data provides 3D phase-space density distribution functions for protons in the solar wind at 1-day resolution. Calibrated science quality data is presented in the native spacecraft frame, with 512 A(v) values per time step across 16 directional sectors and 32 energy-per-charge steps. The dataset is produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Modeling solar wind proton velocity distributions based on the 3D phase-space density data.
• Analyzing ion anisotropy and directional flow based on the 16 directional sectors.
• Studying energy spectra of suprathermal protons based on the 32 Deflection Voltage Steps (DVS).
• Validating space weather and plasma physics simulations using calibrated, spacecraft-frame data.

Strengths

• Data is calibrated to science quality, as stated in the description.
• Provides 3D phase-space density with 512 values per daily time step, offering detailed directional and energy resolution.
• Produced by the authoritative source National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Limitations

• Only proton distribution functions are currently released; other ion species are not included.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The A(v) values are currently in arbitrary units, which may complicate direct physical interpretation.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Wind spacecraft's Suprathermal Ion Composition Spectrometer (STICS) instrument.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 13:24:00.116964; freshness should be verified.