Operations

The default mode of operation of the WIND 3-D experiment includes the following features:

• PESA and EESA detectors are swept over their energy range 32 or 64 times per spacecraft spin. Moments (density, velocity, pressure tensor, heat flux) computed on-board, three dimensional distributions with various energy and angular resolutions, and pitch angle distributions are telemetered.
• SST data are collected 16 times per spin for 16 or 24 energy channels. Spectra and three dimensional distributions are computed and telemetered at rates depending on the energy band (higher rates for the higher-flux lower energies), and pitch angle distributions are computed.

Another special mode involves use of the Fast Particle Correlator (FPC). The FPC performs three types of correlation: direct wave-particle correlations, auto-correlations, and burst correlations.

The wave-particle correlator combines data from the 3-D Plasma experiment and the WAVES experiment and approximates a correlation function between the electron flux and the electric field signal.

The auto correlator compiles histograms of the time intervals between electron counts, with a deviation of a histogram from the expected Poisson distribution indicating electron bunching.

The burst correlator works by Fourier transforming data recorded in continuous bursts of ~3 s of data from two electron channels.

WIND 3-D Plasma and Particle Investigation Home Page
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