SWICS 2.0 Level 2 Data Documentation




Sensor Full Name Measured Species Measured Quantities Typical Energy (KeV/Q) Measurement Technique

SWICS

 Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer 2.0 1 ≤ Z ≤ 30 M, Q, E 0.5 - 100 E/Q
TOF - E

The SWICS 2.0 Instrument on ACE

SWICS 2.0 is the SWICS instrument after August 23, 2011, when a radiation and age-induced hardware anomaly altered the instrument's operational state. It should not be confused with SWICS 1.1, the recalibrated data set extending from launch up to the anomaly.

The Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS) on ACE is optimized for measurements of the chemical and isotopic composition of solar and interstellar matter. SWICS was designed to determine uniquely the chemical and ionic-charge composition of the solar wind, the temperatures and mean speeds of all major solar-wind ions, from H through Fe, at all solar wind speeds above 300 km/s (protons) and 170 km/s (Fe+16), and to resolve H and He isotopes of both solar and interstellar sources. SWICS measures the distribution functions of both the interstellar cloud and dust cloud pickup ions up to energies of 100 keV/e.

For more information about the SWICS and SWIMS instruments, visit the SWICS and SWIMS Home Page, at the University of Michigan.

SWICS 2.0 Data Description

The SWICS 2.0 dataset consists of time series measurements by ACE/SWICS of the elemental abundance, charge state composition, and kinetic distribution of heavy ions in the solar wind. This data set begins after August 23, 2011, when a radiation and age-induced hardware anomaly altered the instrument's operational state.

SWICS 2.0 continues to make heavy ion measurements which are not available from any other instrument, and new data analysis methods have been developed to address the statistical and calibration issues of the current instrument state.However, SWICS 2.0 is a different instrument than SWICS 1.1, with different measurement and statistical properties. As always, the instrument team is available for consultation prior to publication of any SWICS 2.0 data.

For details, see the release notes for SWICS 2.0 level 2 data - provided by the instrument team. All users of SWICS data should read these notes.

All level 2 data records for all ACE instruments contain timing information in the same format. The format of the timing information is described here.

Important note: The data-collection cycles of the SWICS instrument are not synced with UTC, and they are not always exactly the same time-length. As a result, the timestamps of the SWICS 2.0 data records are NOT aligned with UTC hourly time boundaries. Also, they are NOT exactly 2 hours apart. Users should be careful combining these data with data from other data sets.

SWICS 2.0 level 2 data from the ACE Science Center are organized into yearly files. The level 2 data are provided as time-averages, as follows:

SWICS 2.0 Data Quality Flags are described in the Release notes for SWICS-SWIMS level 2 data - please read the release notes and do not ignore the data quality flags!

Download SWICS 2.0 level 2 data


Last Updated: 7 November, 2007
Return to ASC Home Page