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Wind Solar Wind Experiment (SWE) Averaged Electron Pitch Angle Distribution (6-12s rate)

Metadata Updated: April 10, 2026

Averaged Wind SWE electron pitch angle data (6-12 seconds rate) from an earlier mode (VEIS-era) of the electron instrument. The electron pitch-angle distribution averages included in this data set are derived from integrating the electron pitch-angle distributions measured by the Wind/SWE electron instrument (see Ogilvie et al., "SWE, a comprehensive plasma instrument for the Wind spacecraft", Space Sci. Rev., 71, 55, 1995). Averages of phase-space density (f) over key regions of the unit sphere (the set of all possible electron velocity directions) are computed from 3s measurements which are spaced either 6s or 12s in time. These quantities are reliable and citable with caution, meaning that the PI advises that the user should discuss their interpretations with a member of the SWE science team before publishing. The following comments are intended to aid in the use and interpretation of the averages reported in this data set. We begin this analysis with a measure of f for each pitch-angle bin, six degrees in width, from 0 degrees (flux nearly parallel to B) to 180 degrees (flux nearly anti-parallel with B). The f values for pitch-angles from 0-90 degrees (parallel streaming) are integrated (with angluar weighting and assumptions of gyrotropy) over this half-sphere, then averaged by dividing out the 2-pi solid angle of the half-sphere; the result being referred to as the 'f_para' average. Similarly, the 'f_perp' (flux nearly perpendicular to B) average is the result of integrating f for pitch-angles from 60-120 degrees (a region also 2-pi in solid angle). Next, the 'f_anti' (flux nearly anti-parallel to B) average covers the half-sphere of "backward" streaming electrons; having pitch-angles from 90-180 degrees. Finally, the 'f_omni' (omni-directional) average provides the integral of f over the full sphere, divided by the full 4-pi solid angle; providing a measure of total electron flux into the region of observation. The above analysis is carried out for each of 16 energy channels ranging from about 10 eV to as much as 3 keV. The exact energies at which observations are made is time-varying, and this data set reports the electron speeds each channel observes ( V , in cm/s, along with the observations themselves) at any time. Hence the data set reported here contains: f_para, f_perp, f_anti, f_omni (for each of 16 values of V ), and the 16 values of V (time-varying, although usually much more slowly than the order of a day).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026
Publisher NASA Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) Coordinated Data Analysis Web (CDAWeb) Data Services;NASA Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) Data Services
Maintainer
Identifier https://doi.org/10.48322/dq7x-fd74
Data Last Modified 2026-04-06
Category Heliophysics
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 83c24945-b28b-402c-bd1e-d8e65d74cc54
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://doi.org/10.48322/dq7x-fd74
License https://www.usa.gov/government-works
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 63cf2e58ea7719da2b6fbf230af77027d08b201f66c1fa328b5788e6348edd77
Source Schema Version 1.1

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