RPW Data Center
solo_L2_rpw-hfr-surv
The data product solo_L2_rpw-hfr-surv provides partially calibrated E electrical field spectra, measured in survey normal and burst modes over the 2 frequency bands – HF1 and HF2 - of the HFR receiver of the Solar Orbiter/RPW instrument.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.57780/ESA-3XCJD4W
Publisher: ESA
Citation: European Space Agency & Maksimovic, M. (2024). RPW, Radio and Plasma Waves instrument (Version v1.0) [Dataset]. European Space Agency. https://doi.org/10.57780/ESA-3XCJD4W
Link to the data repository
Data files are available from the Solar Orbiter Archive home page.
Copies of the files are also stored in the LIRA local data repository.
Data product overview
E-field power spectral densities measured in one of the two channels of the receiver are given in V^2/Hz (calibration takes already account of the harness + pre-amplifiers gain/phase contributions).
Data are produced following the method described in this paper.
| Type of data | Spectrum |
|---|---|
| Intensity units | V^2/Hz |
| Max Frequency range | 500 kHz to 16 MHZ |
| Max Frequency number | 321 |
| Min Frequency step | 50 kHz |
| Frequency scale | Linear |
| Time resolution | 0.1 sec to 5.4 seconds |
| Data format | CDF |
| File name | solo_L2_rpw-hfr-surv_[YYYYMMDD]_V[version].cdf |
| Granularity | 1 file per day |
| Expected data volume | 40 MBytes per file |
Data organization
Table below gives the name, data type, units and description of the zVariables stored in the CDF file.
Each CDF record contains a set of HFR data acquisition (AGC1, AGC2) at a given time and frequency. See the CHANNEL_STATUS zVariable values to know which channel, 1 and/or 2, is connected to HFR and the SENSOR_CONFIG zVariable value to know with which sensor configuration.
In the the “TYPE” column, the expected size (i.e., number of elements along each dimension) of the zVariable for a CDF record is given between bracket (e.g., “[1]”).
Non-record-variant zVariables are indicated by a “(NRV)” additional label in the “TYPE” column.
| NAME | TYPE | UNIT | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epoch | CDF_TIME_TT2000 [1] | ns | Epoch time of the record |
| JULIAN_DAY | CDF_REAL8[1] | JD | Julian day corresponding to Epoch |
| NUM | CDF_UINT4 [1] | Index number of the record in the L1 parent file | |
| INTERPOL_FLAG | CDF_UINT1 [1] | Flag to indicate if the current EPOCH value is computed from an interpolated time or actual time as returned in the packet (0=actual, 1=interpolated) | |
| QUALITY_FLAG | CDF_UINT1 [1] | Flag to indicate the quality of the data | |
| QUALITY_BITMASK | CDF_UINT2 [1] | Flag to indicate any context information or status at the receiver or experiment level | |
| SYNCHRO_FLAG | CDF_UINT1 [1] | Flag indicating if the receiver time is synchronized or not | |
| SWEEP_NUM | CDF_UINT4 [1] | HFR sweep index number in the current file | |
| SAMPLE_TIME | CDF_REAL8 [1] | Time of the HFR data sample since the beginning of the current sweep. Time is computed at the middle of the measurement. | |
| TICKS_NR | CDF_UINT4 [1] | Number of ticks between two HFR samples | |
| DELTA_TIME | CDF_REAL8 [1] | 𝛍s | Delta time of the HF band between two data samples in microseconds. Computed from TICKS_NR * (1 tick =15.258 𝛍s) |
| SWEEP_MODE | CDF_UINT1 [1] | HFR sweep mode of the current record | |
| SURVEY_MODE | CDF_UINT1 [1] | THR survey mode | |
| CHANNEL_STATUS | CDF_UINT1 [2] | HFR channel status of the current record | |
| AVERAGE_NR | CDF_UINT1 [1] | Number of averages applied (16, 32, 64 or 128) | |
| FRONT_END | CDF_UINT1 [1] | Front end setting (0=GND, 1=PREAMP,2=CAL) | |
| SENSOR_CONFIG | CDF_UINT1 [2] | Indicates the THR sensor configuration (HF_V1-V2=9, HF_V2-V3=10, HF_V3-V1=11) | |
| RPW_STATUS | CDF_UINT1 [15] | Flag indicating status of15 RPW sub-systems | |
| TEMPERATURE | CDF_UINT1 [4] | Temperature of the 3 HF PAs and analog, in degrees. In the case of an internal calibration mode, it contains the PCB temperature and the 3 Voltages. | |
| HFR_BAND | CDF_UINT1[1] | HFR frequency band of the current record. Possible values are: 1=HF1, 2=HF2. | |
| INTEGRATION_TIME | CDF_UINT1 [1] (NRV) | ms | Integration time of a single measurement on the HF band. Total measurement duration T (ms) over a sweep cycle is T = AVERAGE_NR * INTEGRATION_TIME * N_FREQ, where AVERAGE_NR is the number of averages (i.e., 16, 32, 64 or 128) and N_FREQ is the number of frequencies in the current sweep. |
| BANDWIDTH | CDF_UINT1 [1] | kHz | HFR frequency bandwidth |
| FREQUENCY | CDF_UINT2 [1] | kHz | Frequency of analysis |
| AGC1 | CDF_DOUBLE [1] | V2/Hz | Power spectral density at receiver+PA on channel 1 before applying antenna gain, for the current frequency |
| AGC2 | CDF_DOUBLE [1] | V2/Hz | Power spectral density at receiver+PA on channel 2 before applying antenna gain, the current frequency |
| CHANNEL_LABEL | CDF_CHAR [2] (NRV) | Label for channel (1, 2) | |
| RPW_STATUS_LABEL | CDF_CHAR [15] (NRV) | Label for 15 RPW subsystem status | |
| TEMPERATURE_LABEL | CDF_CHAR [4] (NRV) | Label for 3 PA temperatures + 1 analog | |
| SYNCHRO_FLAG | CDF_UINT1[1] | Flag indicating if the receiver time is synchronised or not (0=Not synchronized, 1=Synchronized) | |
| POST_GAP_FLAG | CDF_UINT1[1] | Flag that indicates data gap in the records. |
Rules of use
Please read the text of the Rules_of_use global attribute in the CDF files.
See also in https://rpw-datacenter.obspm.fr/spip.php?article4.
Caveats and known Issues
| ISSUE | MITIGATION(S) |
|---|---|
| For a given HFR spectrum/sweep, the last Epoch time value of the HF1 band can sometime be higher than the first Epoch time value of the following HF2 band. When it happens, the Epoch times in the CDF file do not increase monotonously for samples around the HF1-to-HF2 band change. | The root cause has been identified, but fixing this issue is not straight forward. In the meanwhile a list of the impacted CDF files will be provided later to the end users. |
| RPW MY (3) electrical antenna signal was lost intermittently between November 13th and March 15th. HFR acquisitions were impacted when measurements were performed in a dipole mode including this antenna. | Specific entry added for the global attribute CAVEATS and QUALITY_FLAG zVariable set to 1 for impacted records. |
Release notes
See MODS global attribute in the CDF files for an history of the data modifications.
Authors
Antonio Vecchio, Milan Maksimovic, Xavier Bonnin and Quynh Nhu Nguyen
References
• The Solar Orbiter Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument, Maksimovic et al., A&A, 2020 (https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201936214)
• THR-Calibration Procedures, A. Vecchio, (REF TO BE ADDED)
• Metadata Definition for Solar Orbiter Science Data, Helen R. Middleton
• RPW Data Product Description Document (DPDD)
• NASA CDF Web portal
Return to Data products description mainpage