This ACE SWICS/SWIMS Data Set contains the Alpha Particle Number Density, He/O, C/O, Ne/O, Mg/O, Si/O, Fe/O Abundance Ratios, C, O, Mg, Si, Fe Average Charge States, C+6/C+4, C+6/C+5, O+7/O+6 Charge State Ratios, He+2, C+5, O+6, Fe+10 Speeds and Thermal Speeds, and a Solar Wind Type Parameter that characterizes the Solar Wind as either Streamer, Coronal Hole, Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), or Unidentified. The Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS), prior to August 23, 2011 and denoted as SWICS Version 1.1, determines uniquely the Chemical and Ionic Charge State Composition of the Solar Wind, the Temperatures and Mean Speeds of major Solar Wind Ions at all Speeds above 300 km/s for Protons and 170 km/s for Fe+16, and resolves Protons and Helium Isotopes of Solar and Interstellar Sources. SWICS 1.1 measures the Distribution Functions of Interstellar Cloud Pick-Up Ions and Interplanetary Dust Cloud Pick-Up Ions up to Energies of 100 keV/e. The ACE SWICS 1.1 Data Products represent a new Release of the Data with significantly improved Time Series Measurements for the Elemental Abundance, Charge State Composition, and Kinetic Properties of Heavy Ions in the Solar Wind. It is a major new Update produced with completely redesigned Analysis Methods to account more rigorously for Instrumental and Statistical Effects (Shearer et al., 2014). Rare Elements are now identified more reliably and Estimates of Statistical Error are provided. Release Notes are available that describe the Data, the Methods used to determine the Data Values, and Issues concerning Data Quality and Measurement Uncertainty. The Quality of ACE Level 2 Data is such that it is suitable for serious Scientific Study. However, to avoid Confusion and Misunderstanding, it is recommended that Users consult with the appropriate ACE Team Members before publishing Work derived from the Data. The ACE Team has worked hard to ensure that the Level 2 Data are free from Errors, but the Team cannot accept Responsibility for Erroneous Data, or for Misunderstandings about how the Data may be used. This is especially true if the appropriate ACE Team Members are not consulted before Publication. At the very least, Preprints should be forwarded to the ACE Team before Publication. For more Information about the SWICS Instrument, visit the SWICS Home Page at http://solar-heliospheric.engin.umich.edu/ace.

This ACE SWICS/SWIMS Data Set contains the He/O, C/O, N/O, Ne/O, Mg/O, Si/O, S/O, Fe/O Abundance Ratios, C, O, Mg, Si, Fe Average Charge States, C+6/C+4, C+6/C+5, O+7/O+6 Charge State Ratios, He+2, C+5, O+6, Fe+10 Speeds and Thermal Speeds, and a Solar Wind Type Parameter that characterizes the Solar Wind as either Streamer, Coronal Hole, Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), or Unidentified. The Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS), prior to August 23, 2011 and denoted as SWICS Version 1.1, determines uniquely the Chemical and Ionic Charge State Composition of the Solar Wind, the Temperatures and Mean Speeds of major Solar Wind Ions at all Speeds above 300 km/s for Protons and 170 km/s for Fe+16, and resolves Protons and Helium Isotopes of Solar and Interstellar Sources. SWICS 1.1 measures the Distribution Functions of Interstellar Cloud Pick-Up Ions and Interplanetary Dust Cloud Pick-Up Ions up to Energies of 100 keV/e. The ACE SWICS 1.1 Data Products represent a new Release of the Data with significantly improved Time Series Measurements for the Elemental Abundance, Charge State Composition, and Kinetic Properties of Heavy Ions in the Solar Wind. It is a major new Update produced with completely redesigned Analysis Methods to account more rigorously for Instrumental and Statistical Effects (Shearer et al., 2014). Rare Elements are now identified more reliably and Estimates of Statistical Error are provided. Release Notes are available that describe the Data, the Methods used to determine the Data Values, and Issues concerning Data Quality and Measurement Uncertainty. The Quality of ACE Level 2 Data is such that it is suitable for serious Scientific Study. However, to avoid Confusion and Misunderstanding, it is recommended that Users consult with the appropriate ACE Team Members before publishing Work derived from the Data. The ACE Team has worked hard to ensure that the Level 2 Data are free from Errors, but the Team cannot accept Responsibility for Erroneous Data, or for Misunderstandings about how the Data may be used. This is especially true if the appropriate ACE Team Members are not consulted before Publication. At the very least, Preprints should be forwarded to the ACE Team before Publication. For more Information about the SWICS Instrument, visit the SWICS Home Page at http://solar-heliospheric.engin.umich.edu/ace.

This ACE SWICS/SWIMS Data Set contains actual Charge State, Q, Distributions of Carbon, Oxygen, Neon, Magnesium, Silicon and Iron as opposed to the averaged Charge States that have been available on CDAWeb for some time. The Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS), prior to August 23, 2011 and denoted as SWICS Version 1.1, determines uniquely the Chemical and Ionic Charge State Composition of the Solar Wind, the Temperatures and Mean Speeds of major Solar Wind Ions at all Speeds above 300 km/s for Protons and 170 km/s for Fe+16, and resolves Protons and Helium Isotopes of Solar and Interstellar Sources. SWICS 1.1 measures the Distribution Functions of Interstellar Cloud Pick-Up Ions and Interplanetary Dust Cloud Pick-Up Ions up to Energies of 100 keV/e. The ACE SWICS 1.1 Data Products represent a new Release of the Data with significantly improved Time Series Measurements for the Elemental Abundance, Charge State Composition, and Kinetic Properties of Heavy Ions in the Solar Wind. It is a major new Update produced with completely redesigned Analysis Methods to account more rigorously for Instrumental and Statistical Effects (Shearer et al., 2014). Rare Elements are now identified more reliably and Estimates of Statistical Error are provided. Release Notes are available that describe the Data, the Methods used to determine the Data Values, and Issues concerning Data Quality and Measurement Uncertainty. The Quality of ACE Level 2 Data is such that it is suitable for serious Scientific Study. However, to avoid Confusion and Misunderstanding, it is recommended that Users consult with the appropriate ACE Team Members before publishing Work derived from the Data. The ACE Team has worked hard to ensure that the Level 2 Data are free from Errors, but the Team cannot accept Responsibility for Erroneous Data, or for Misunderstandings about how the Data may be used. This is especially true if the appropriate ACE Team Members are not consulted before Publication. At the very least, Preprints should be forwarded to the ACE Team before Publication. For more Information about the SWICS Instrument, visit the SWICS Home Page at http://solar-heliospheric.engin.umich.edu/ace.

Solar Wind Ion parameters from ACE/SWEPAM. Level 2 data, 64-second averages. Parameters include proton density, temperature (radial component) and flow speed, flow velocity vector in GSE, GSM and RTN coordinates, and alpha to proton density ratio. ACE position vectors in GSE and GSM are included. The data are accessible via ftp in HDF and CDF from the ACE Science Center and CDAWeb, respectively, and in ASCII format from the value-added interfaces at those sites. Hourly averaged L2 plasma parameters are also available from these access paths. The "parameter keys" given below are as used by CDAWeb.

The data include Wind STICS 3-minute 3D velocity distribution functions (VDFs) in three units (phase space density, differential number flux and counts), together with their statistical errors, for selected ion species using triple coincidence (H+, He+, He2+, C5+, O+, O6+, and Fe10+) and double coincidence (H+, He+, He2+, O+, O6+) measurements in the solar wind. For details, see https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/documents/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_revD.pdf.The Suprathermal Ion Composition Spectrometer (STICS) is a time of flight (TOF) plasma mass spectrometer, capable of identifying mass and mass per charge for incident ions up to 200 keV/e. It uses an electrostatic analyzer to admit ions of a particular energy per charge (E/Q) into the TOF chamber. The E/Q voltage is stepped through 32 values, sitting at each value for approximately 24 sec., to measure ions over the full E/Q range of 6 - 200 keV/e. Ions then pass through a carbon foil and TOF chamber, before finally impacting on a solid-state detector (SSD) for energy measurement. STICS combines these three measurements of E/Q, TOF and residual energy, producing PHA words. This triple-coincidence technique greatly improves the signal to noise ratio in the data. Measurements of E/Q and TOF without residual energy also produce PHA words. These double-coincidence measurements are characterized by better statistics since ions whose energy does not allow them to be registered by the SSD can still be counted in double-coincidence measurements. However, ion identification in double-coincidence measurements are limited to a select number of ions that are well separated in E/Q - TOF space. The STICS instrument provides full 3D velocity distribution functions, through a combination of multiple telescopes and spacecraft spin. The instrument includes 3 separate TOF telescopes that view 3 separate latitude sectors, as shown in Figure 1 (https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/documents/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_revD.pdf). In addition, the WIND spacecraft spins, allowing the 3 telescopes to trace out a nearly 4π steradian viewing area. The longitudinal sectors are shown in Figure 2. The solar direction is in sectors 8-10 while the earthward direction is in sectors 0-2.

The data include Wind STICS 30-minute Angular Flux Maps (AFMs) for selected ion species using triple coincidence (H+, He+, He2+, C5+, O+, O6+, and Fe10+) and double coincidence (H+, He+, He2+, O+, O6+) measurements in the solar wind. AFMs give the flow direction of the measured plasma divided into 48 velocity vector components ranging over sixteen azimuthal sectors and three elevation bins. AFMs are formed by integrating the VDFs over E/q. For details, see https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/documents/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_revD.pdf.The Suprathermal Ion Composition Spectrometer (STICS) is a time of flight (TOF) plasma mass spectrometer, capable of identifying mass and mass per charge for incident ions up to 200 keV/e. It uses an electrostatic analyzer to admit ions of a particular energy per charge (E/Q) into the TOF chamber. The E/Q voltage is stepped through 32 values, sitting at each value for approximately 24 sec., to measure ions over the full E/Q range of 6 - 200 keV/e. Ions then pass through a carbon foil and TOF chamber, before finally impacting on a solid-state detector (SSD) for energy measurement. STICS combines these three measurements of E/Q, TOF and residual energy, producing PHA words. This triple-coincidence technique greatly improves the signal to noise ratio in the data. Measurements of E/Q and TOF without residual energy also produce PHA words. These double-coincidence measurements are characterized by better statistics since ions whose energy does not allow them to be registered by the SSD can still be counted in double-coincidence measurements. However, ion identification in double-coincidence measurements are limited to a select number of ions that are well separated in E/Q - TOF space. The STICS instrument provides full 3D velocity distribution functions, through a combination of multiple telescopes and spacecraft spin. The instrument includes 3 separate TOF telescopes that view 3 separate latitude sectors, as shown in Figure 1 (https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/documents/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_revD.pdf). In addition, the WIND spacecraft spins, allowing the 3 telescopes to trace out a nearly 4π steradian viewing area. The longitudinal sectors are shown in Figure 2. The solar direction is in sectors 8-10 while the earthward direction is in sectors 0-2.

The data include Wind STICS 3-minute density (0th moment) and mean value of the energy distribution (1st moment), together with their statistical errors, for selected ion species using triple coincidence (H+, He+, He2+, C5+, O+, O6+, and Fe10+) and double coincidence (H+, He+, He2+, O+, O6+) measurements in the solar wind. For details, see https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/documents/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_revD.pdf.The Suprathermal Ion Composition Spectrometer (STICS) is a time of flight (TOF) plasma mass spectrometer, capable of identifying mass and mass per charge for incident ions up to 200 keV/e. It uses an electrostatic analyzer to admit ions of a particular energy per charge (E/Q) into the TOF chamber. The E/Q voltage is stepped through 32 values, sitting at each value for approximately 24 sec., to measure ions over the full E/Q range of 6 - 200 keV/e. Ions then pass through a carbon foil and TOF chamber, before finally impacting on a solid-state detector (SSD) for energy measurement. STICS combines these three measurements of E/Q, TOF and residual energy, producing PHA words. This triple-coincidence technique greatly improves the signal to noise ratio in the data. Measurements of E/Q and TOF without residual energy also produce PHA words. These double-coincidence measurements are characterized by better statistics since ions whose energy does not allow them to be registered by the SSD can still be counted in double-coincidence measurements. However, ion identification in double-coincidence measurements are limited to a select number of ions that are well separated in E/Q - TOF space. The STICS instrument provides full 3D velocity distribution functions, through a combination of multiple telescopes and spacecraft spin. The instrument includes 3 separate TOF telescopes that view 3 separate latitude sectors, as shown in Figure 1 (https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/documents/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_revD.pdf). In addition, the WIND spacecraft spins, allowing the 3 telescopes to trace out a nearly 4π steradian viewing area. The longitudinal sectors are shown in Figure 2. The solar direction is in sectors 8-10 while the earthward direction is in sectors 0-2.

The data include Wind STICS 30-minute Energy-Resolved Pitch-Angle Distributions (ERPAs) for selected ion species using triple coincidence (H+, He+, He2+, C5+, O+, O6+, and Fe10+) and double coincidence (H+, He+, He2+, O+, O6+) measurements in the solar wind. ERPAs organize the data by the angle relative to the magnetic field vector direction, in 7.5 degree bins. The energy separation is preserved at the native resolution of the E/q bins. For details, see https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/documents/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_revD.pdf .The Suprathermal Ion Composition Spectrometer (STICS) is a time of flight (TOF) plasma mass spectrometer, capable of identifying mass and mass per charge for incident ions up to 200 keV/e. It uses an electrostatic analyzer to admit ions of a particular energy per charge (E/Q) into the TOF chamber. The E/Q voltage is stepped through 32 values, sitting at each value for approximately 24 sec., to measure ions over the full E/Q range of 6 - 200 keV/e. Ions then pass through a carbon foil and TOF chamber, before finally impacting on a solid-state detector (SSD) for energy measurement. STICS combines these three measurements of E/Q, TOF and residual energy, producing PHA words. This triple-coincidence technique greatly improves the signal to noise ratio in the data. Measurements of E/Q and TOF without residual energy also produce PHA words. These double-coincidence measurements are characterized by better statistics since ions whose energy does not allow them to be registered by the SSD can still be counted in double-coincidence measurements. However, ion identification in double-coincidence measurements are limited to a select number of ions that are well separated in E/Q - TOF space. The STICS instrument provides full 3D velocity distribution functions, through a combination of multiple telescopes and spacecraft spin. The instrument includes 3 separate TOF telescopes that view 3 separate latitude sectors, as shown in Figure 1 (https://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/documents/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_revD.pdf). In addition, the WIND spacecraft spins, allowing the 3 telescopes to trace out a nearly 4π steradian viewing area. The longitudinal sectors are shown in Figure 2. The solar direction is in sectors 8-10 while the earthward direction is in sectors 0-2.

SPC Level 3 Ion Data--------------------File Naming Format: psp_swp_spc_l3i_YYYYMMDD_v01.cdfThis data product contains derived measurements of ion properties in the solar wind, including those for density, temperature, and velocity. These are determined both by a direct computation of the velocity moments of the reduced distribution function and by attempting to fit the primary peak in the ion I(V) curve with a Maxwellian model. These measurements correspond one to one with spectra in the psp_swp_spc_l2i file for the same date. It may be convenient for some applications to cross-reference the two. For example, the corresponding l3i file contains ephemeris and data quality flag information that may be useful for an investigator who is concerned only with l2i type measurements.Conditions that impact measurement quality are documented in the DQF variable, which contains a 32 element flag array for each measurement time. Each element of the array is reserved to signify a specific condition. These conditions are described in the DQF_FLAGNAMES variable. In this version, for example, DQF_FLAGNAMES.DAT[23] is set to "spacecraft maneuver". If measurement "i" was made during a spacecraft maneuver, it is thus flagged with DQF.DAT[23,i] = 1.In Version 01, measurements are not provided, i.e. variables are set to fill, during spacecraft maneuvers, under conditions of low signal-to-noise, and during certain observed transients. Such conditions are rare during encounters, but increasingly frequent in interplanetary cruise. These conditions are documented in the DQF variable. Remarks are also provided in the "SPC Reduced Data Quality Periods" table. In Version 01, the solar wind alpha particle component is not measured. Thus, variables are set equal to fill values.SPC Encounter 1 Remarks-----------------------Data quality is very good for the duration of the encounter. The solar wind flow was within the optimal field of view for the SPC instrument for nearly the entire encounter. See the data flags for specific exceptions. As with all encounters, signal-to-noise is higher during ingress than egress, which is reflected in the typically smaller uncertainties and less frequent "primary peak low signal" flag events.SPC Cruise Phase Remarks------------------------Measurements recorded during cruise phase are not all transmitted to Earth. The typical return is one spectrum out of every 32.SPC Encounter 2 Remarks-----------------------Due to an erroneous setting in the operating mode for this encounter, ion full scan spectra and certain spectra immediately following ion full scans are of reduced quality. In the affected full scan spectra, the energy steps over an initial portion of the measurement spectra have zero width, i.e. the Level 2 ion variables MV_LO.DAT = MV_HI.DAT, and the corresponding measurements are purely noise. In some cases, this results in a poor determination of the proton "primary peak" energy, which renders additional subsequent full scans that follow subject to the same incompleteness. In other cases, the energy range for the subsequent "ion peak tracking mode" scan is not ideal. The affected Level 3 ion measurements have been flagged with DQF.DAT[22]=1, which stands for "energy ranging/peak tracking error" and/or set to fill. The operating mode has been revised such that future encounters will not be so affected.Parker Solar Probe SWEAP Rules of the Road------------------------------------------As part of the development of collaboration with the broader Heliophysics community, the mission has drafted a "Rules of the Road" to govern how PSP instrument data are to be used.* 1) Users should consult with the PI to discuss the appropriate use of instrument data or model results and to ensure that the users are accessing the most recently available versions of the data and of the analysis routines. Instrument team Science Operations Centers, SOCs, and/or Virtual Observatories, VOs, should facilitate this process serving as the

The SWICS 12-minute proton data contains densities, speeds, and thermal speeds from the beginning of the mission up to the present day. The densities have been cross-calibrated to the proton monitors ACE/SWEPAM and WIND/SWE, and represent a continuous data set that can be used in conjunction with other SWICS data, or as a stand-alone measurement. For details on the SWICS proton data, see the release notes provided by the instrument team: http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/DATA/level2/ssprotons/swics_protons_release_notes.txt