Solar Helioshperic Research Group

background

background

background

background

background

Solar and Heliospheric Research Group

Michigan Engineering

Back to top ↑

Data

The SHRG provides a critical link between experimental measurements and the advancement of scientific knowledge not only by inventing the instruments that collect and measure the plasma in space, but also processing and analyzing the data from those instruments, providing the scientific community with high-quality data that can be used for research in many different fields.

Plasma Dynamics and Composition CHIANTI Sonification Experiment Data Management Internal

Main section

This is an area where we can give some information about each section at a glance.

Science

The SHRG is a world leader in the study of solar wind composition, heliospheric physics, and solar-planetary interactions.

Tech

The SHRG specializes in developing innovative technologies for measuring space plasma. This includes mass composition spectrometers, specialized electronics, high voltage power supplies, and novel components to make flight hardware more lightweight and robust.

Missions

The SHRG stays at the forefront of heliospheric science via its involvement with space research missions.

Data Analysis

The SHRG provides a critical link (pipeline source ?) between experimental measurements and the advancement of scientific knowledge.

In addition to inventing the instruments that collect and measure the plasma in space, the SHRG processes and analyzes the data from those instruments, providing the scientific community with high-quality data that can be used for research in many different fields.

Plasma Dynamics and Composition

The elemental and ionic composition and dynamics of a given plasma contains a wealth of information about where the plasma came from, what objects or planetary bodies in encountered along the way, and which physical processes it was subjected to. Scientists and students in the SHRG manage, validate, and utilize data from a number of instruments on spacecraft located across the solar system.

Ulysses / SWICS (Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer)
Instrument paper: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992A%26AS...92..267G
Data description and readme file: ftp://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacecraft_data/ulysses/plasma/swics/new_readme.txt
Data Archive (click on SWICS in the left hand panel): http://ufa.esac.esa.int/ufa/#data
Note: there are two primary data products available (1990 ? 2009): 3 hour densities and speeds of the heavy ion main charge states (uswimatbYY.dat)
3 hour select charge state and abundance ratios (uswicchstYY.dat)
Where YY indicates the last two digits of the year

ACE / SWICS (Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer)
Instrument paper: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1998SSRv...86..497G
Data Description: http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/level2/ssv3_l2desc.html
Release Notes: http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/DATA/level2/ssv3/swics_lv2_v3_release_notes.txt
1 hr, 2hr, and daily elemental abundances, speeds, and charge states (1998 ? 2011): http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/level2/lvl2DATA_SWICS-SWIMS.html
12 minute protons densities and speeds, merged with SWEPAM (1998 ? 2012): http://www.srl.caltech.edu/ACE/ASC/level2/sweswi_l3desc.html

WIND / SWE (Solar Wind Experiment)
Instrument paper: http://wind.nasa.gov/docs/SWE_Ogilvie_SSR1995.pdf
Calibration paper: http://wind.nasa.gov/docs/Kasper_SWE_Calibration_PaperJGR2006.pdf
Data description and readme file: ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/swe/ascii/2-min/documentation_jck.txt
2 min proton and alpha densities, temperatures, and velocities (1995 ? present): ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/wind/swe/ascii/2-min/

WIND / STICS (SupraThermal Ion Composition Spectrometer)
Instrument paper: http://wind.nasa.gov/docs/SMS_Gloeckler_SSR1995.pdf
Daily suprathermal proton and alpha particle distribution functions (1995 ? 2007): http://vho.nasa.gov/mission/wind/sms/yearly/
Release notes and data description: http://vho.nasa.gov/mission/wind/sms/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_revB.txt
3D proton distribution functions (2005 ? 2006 only): http://vho.nasa.gov/mission/wind/sms/3d/
Release notes and data description: http://vho.nasa.gov/mission/wind/sms/3d/wind_stics_lv2_release_notes_01Apr2010.pdf

MESSENGER / FIPS (Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer)
Instrument Paper: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007SSRv..131..523A
Calibrated Plasma Data Products during Mercury Orbits
Readme: http://pds-ppi.igpp.ucla.edu/archive1/MESSEPPSDOC_1001/CATALOG/EPPSFIPSDATASET_CDR.CAT
Native resolution (10s & 1 min modes) Pulse Height Analysis (raw event data): http://pds-ppi.igpp.ucla.edu/search/view/?f=yes&id=pds://PPI/MESSEPPS_CDR/DATA/FIPS_PHA
Native resolution (10s & 1 min modes) Flux spectra integrated over incident angle: http://pds-ppi.igpp.ucla.edu/search/view/?f=yes&id=pds://PPI/MESSEPPS_CDR/DATA/FIPS_SCAN
Derived Data Products
Readme: http://pds-ppi.igpp.ucla.edu/archive1/MESSEPPSDOC_1001/CATALOG/EPPSFIPSDATASET_DDR.CAT
Data Archive on NASA?s Planetary Data System (PDS): http://pds-ppi.igpp.ucla.edu/search/view/?f=yes&id=pds://PPI/MESSEPPS_DDR/DATA
Note: there are a number of different data products available.
FIP_ARRDIR - Ion flux as function of arrival direction
FIPS_ESPEC - Differential energy flux for select ion species at select times
FIPS_NOBS - Observed densities for all major ion species
FIPS_NTP - Number density, Temperature, and Pressure
FIPS_PCHANG - Pitch angle distributions

CHIANTI

The use of in-situ measurements and of remote-sensing observations to measure the physical properties of solar plasmas requires a vast amount of atomic data. These data allow to determine the evolution of the ionization status of wind plasmas, and to measure the physical properties of coronal plasmas. Members or the SHRG have developed CHIANTI (http://www.chiantidatabase.org), a spectral code that allows users to carry out spectroscopic diagnostics of optically thin plasmas. CHIANTI is the most advanced spectral codes working below 2000 Angstroem, is the standard spectral code used in solar physics, and is used worldwide by scientists working in all fields of astrophysics.

Sonification

The SHRG applies auditory data analysis techniques to detect spectral features in the solar wind that may otherwise be overlooked. This practice of turning data into sound - known as data sonification - allows scientists to analyze the data using their sense of hearing as well as vision. Auditory display can play a valuable role in the data analysis process, particularly when used in tandem with visualization methods in rendering data sets of high dimensionality. Our group has successfully applied sonification techniques to reveal new information regarding the source regions of the solar wind, and will continue to use this approach in the future to explore data sets of increasingly high resolution.

Multimedia:

Listening to solar storms

Experiment Data Management

By inventing and building new instruments, the SHRG collects experimental data that is critical to the advancement of scientific knowledge. Our results contribute to continued research, publication, and the formation/validation of theoretical frameworks. Data analysis is a multi-tiered, computationally intensive process. Managing the telemetry output of multiple instruments and organizing this data into efficient storage structures requires a unique combination of custom software and commercial analysis tools. Each instrument collects data that must traverse a path from in-situ collection to public release. This data production pipeline requires expertise spanning several fields of science and engineering including: computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, and electrical engineering. Our group specializes in ground data system solutions including decompression and decoding of telemetry data, efficient storage and retrieval of scientific data for analysis, and data visualization. In addition, we build custom analysis tools based on commercial software packages such as IDL and MATLAB.

The data analysis is intimately tied to instrument development. The methods required to interpret instrument output are determined by using a combination of instrument response profiling, fundamental physics, and statistical analysis. Our data production algorithms are precisely calibrated to eliminate instrumentation bias which allows us to provide the most accurate measurements possible. Additionally, we are continually developing new and better instrument designs that evolve with our understanding of both the practical operational concerns of an instrument and the physical environment within which the instrument operates (the heliosphere).

Internal

Charge State Calculator

FIPS OPS monitor

ACE/SWICS M-M/Q Histograms