The Ulysses/SWICS instrument is a mass spectrometer combining an electrostatic analyzer with post acceleration, followed by a time-of-flight and energy measurement. The instrument covers an energy per charge range from 0.16 to 59.6 keV/e with a time resolution of about 13 minutes. SWICS is designed to determine uniquely the elemental and ionic-charge composition, the temperatures and mean speeds of all major solar wind ions, from H through Fe. For more information see G. Gloeckler, J. Geiss et al., Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 92, 267-289, 1992. These data consist of all 18 Matrix Rates (MR) as a function of energy per charge (E/q) and of time. Each MR represents a specific element in one or several ionization states, but it may also contain significant contributions from neighbouring elements due to spillover. The MRs are given in units of count rates only. SAPRO (SWICS Archive Processor) software can be used both to convert the MR count rates to physical units (differential flux, phase space density), to correct for spillover between different MRs, and to obtain kinetic parameters (density, speed, thermal speed) of selected ions (to be used with caution).
Version:2.3.2
The Ulysses/SWICS instrument is a mass spectrometer combining an electrostatic analyzer with post acceleration, followed by a time-of-flight and energy measurement. The instrument covers an energy per charge range from 0.16 to 59.6 keV/e with a time resolution of about 13 minutes. SWICS is designed to determine uniquely the elemental and ionic-charge composition, the temperatures and mean speeds of all major solar wind ions, from H through Fe. For more information see G. Gloeckler, J. Geiss et al., Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 92, 267-289, 1992. These data consist of all 18 Matrix Rates (MR) as a function of energy per charge (E/q) and of time. Each MR represents a specific element in one or several ionization states, but it may also contain significant contributions from neighbouring elements due to spillover. The MRs are given in units of count rates only. SAPRO (SWICS Archive Processor) software can be used both to convert the MR count rates to physical units (differential flux, phase space density), to correct for spillover between different MRs, and to obtain kinetic parameters (density, speed, thermal speed) of selected ions (to be used with caution).
| Role | Person | StartDate | StopDate | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | PrincipalInvestigator | spase://SMWG/Person/George.Gloeckler | |||
| 2. | PrincipalInvestigator | spase://SMWG/Person/Johannes.Geiss | |||
| 3. | MetadataContact | spase://SMWG/Person/Robert.E.McGuire | |||
| 4. | MetadataContact | spase://SMWG/Person/Lee.Frost.Bargatze |
Ulysses , SWICS, GLG Operations Web Page. The SWICS GLG Experiment determines the Elemental and Ionic-Charge Composition, Temperatures and Mean Speeds of all major Solar Wind Ions from Hydrogen, H, through Iron, Fe, at Solar Wind Speeds ranging from 175 km/s to 1280 km/s.
Access to Data in CDF Format via ftp from SPDF
Access to Data in CDF Format via http from SPDF
Access to ASCII, CDF, and plots via NASA/GSFC CDAWeb
Web Service to this product using the HAPI interface.
Epoch
Spacecraft Event Time measured in seconds since 1-Jan-1950
Spacecraft position in heliocentric polar coordinates
0 = no gap immediately prior to this record, 1 = prior gap due to inappropriate instrument mode, 2 = prior gap due to missing level zero data, 3 = prior gap due to noisy level zero data, 10-255 = reserved
Deflection voltage cycle non nominal flag bitmask: no bit set = all nominal, bit 0 set = DPU error - no sun puls, bit 1 set = DPU error - sun puls not within sun pulse sector, bit 2 set = DPU error - MCD address wrong, bit 3 set = DPU error - no spin rate, bit 4 set = DPU error - no bubble sync. word, bit 5 set = DPU error - no bubble HK identifier, bit 6 set = DPU error - interrupt error 2, bit 7 set = DPU error - interrupt error 1, bit 8 set = DPU error - formating error, bit 9 set = DPU error - PHA error, bit 10 set = DPU error - mode status error, bit 11 set = non nominal matrix rate value (i.e. matrix rate overflow), bit 12 set = non nominal DV mode (i.e. DV mode != 1), bit 13 set = non nominal PAPS value (i.e. PAPS value != 22.6), bit 14 set = non nominal MCP bias power supply level (i.e. MCP level != 3), bit 15 set = non nominal emergency mode (i.e. emergency mode enabled), bit 16 set = non nominal DPU mode (i.e. DPU mode != 0), bit 17 set = non nominal TAC gain adjustment (i.e. TAC gain != 0%), bit 18 set = non nominal DV stepping (i.e. step reversal), bit 19 set = non nominal aspect angle (i.e. not within range: ]0.0 .. 50.0[), bit 20 set = non nominal ADC trigger type (i.e. trigger type != T), bit 21-31 = reserved (not set)
Instrument status flag bitmask: bit 0-13: reserved (not set), bit 14-15 (2 bit): telemetry mode, bit 16-19 (4 bit): TAC gain adjustment, bit 20 (1 bit): data compression code, bit 21-22 (2 bit): emergency mode, bit 23-26 (4 bit): MCP bias power supply level, bit 27-29 (3 bit): DV mode, bit 30-31 (2 bit): DPU mode
Instrument period duration is 12 seconds, with few exceptions
Spacecraft aspect angle
Electrostatic deflection system energy per charge step
H+, protons, measured in triple coincidence
4He++, alpha particles, measured in triple coincidence
H+, protons, measured in double coincidence
4He+, singly charged helium, measured in double coincidence
Heavy ions with m/q>10, measured in double coincidence
C4+ and C5+ nominal, with spillover from N and O
C6+ nominal, with spillover from N and O
N5+ to N7+ nominal, with strong spillover from C and O
O6+ nominal, with spillover from C, N, and Ne
O7+ and O8+ nominal, with spillover from C, N, and Ne
Ne8+ nominal, with spillover from O and Mg
Mg6+ to Mg8+ nominal, with spillover from Si
Mg9+ to Mg11+ nominal, with spillover from O, Ne, and Si
Si5+ to Si8+ nominal, with spillover from Mg and S
Si9+ to Si12+ nominal, with spillover from Mg and S
S6+ to S14+ nominal, with spillover from Mg, Si, and Fe
Fe7+ to Fe9+ nominal, with spillover from Si and S
Fe10+ to Fe14+ nominal, with spillover from Si and S