100-millisecond Proton and Electron Count Rate from SAMPEX/PET
This data set consists of the count rate from the P1 detector on the PET instrument. The detector responds to electrons >400 keV and protons > ~2 MeV. The data set covers the entire official science mission (5 July 1992 to 30 June 2004).
Some data after 30 June 2004 are also posted. However, these data have not been verified by the science team to the same extent as the earlier data.
Units are counts per 50msec. The 100msec cadence is due to a 50% duty cycle.
Data are currently provided as daily ASCII text files. Each file contains two columns:
- Second-of-Day
- P1 Count_rate - P1ADC detector singles rate. Electrons > 400 keV, protons > ~2 MeV.
Notes and Caveats
- The data are not corrected or flagged for saturation effects. Note that this rate is from a single detector that has a broad acceptance cone and a geometric factor of ~10 cm^2 sr.
- The PET and HILT hi-res rates were accumulated only if count rates were above a programmable threshold, and these thresholds were adjusted several times during the mission.
- The PET and HILT hi-res rates had separate memory quotas in the SAMPEX SEDS solid state recorder, and if the rates filled their respective quotas no additional hi-res data would be collected until after the solid state recorder memory had been cleared following a ground pass.
- Additional details on the threshold adjustments can be found in the HILT, PET, and DPU "Event tables" in the MDF documentation (Appendix "I").
- PET Geometry factors and Response functions (PDF)
- PET Geometry factors for electrons (tab-delimited text)