MMS Fast Plasma Instrument

FPI summary plot in SPEDAS

SPEDAS provides command line and GUI access to the MMS FPI data.

Prior to using these data, please read the FPI Release Notes:

https://lasp.colorado.edu/galaxy/display/mms/FPI+Release+Notes

FPI Moments

For more complete examples, see the FPI crib sheets located in the /mms/examples/ folder.

Examples

Electron Moments Data

To load and plot the MMS1 FPI electron moments data on March 7, 2016:

MMS> mms_load_fpi, datatype='des-moms', trange=['2016-03-07', '2016-03-08'], probe=1

MMS> tplot, 'mms1_des_numberdensity_dbcs_fast'

MMS> tplot, ['mms1_des_energyspectr_omni_avg', 'mms1_des_pitchangdist_avg']

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  MMS1 FPI electron density on March 7, 2016

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  MMS1 FPI electron energy spectra and pitch angle distribution on March 7, 2016

Ion Moments Data

To load and plot the ion density, along with the omni-directional spectra on March 7, 2016:

MMS> mms_load_fpi, datatype='dis-moms', trange=['2016-03-07', '2016-03-08'], probe=1

MMS> tplot, ['mms1_dis_numberdensity_dbcs_fast', 'mms1_dis_energyspectr_omni_avg']

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  MMS1 FPI ion density and energy spectra on March 7, 2016

FPI Distributions

SPEDAS can also be used to load and generate spectra from the FPI distribution functions.

Examples

Electron Distribution Data

To load the electron data:

MMS> mms_load_fpi, probe=1, trange=['2015-10-16/13:02:30', '2015-10-16/13:07:30'], data_rate='brst', datatype='des-dist'

To generate the pitch angle distributions (PADs), we also need spacecraft position and magnetic field data covering the time range:

MMS> mms_load_state, probes=1, trange=['2015-10-16/13:01:30', '2015-10-16/13:08:30']

MMS> mms_load_fgm, probe=1, trange=['2015-10-16/13:01:30', '2015-10-16/13:08:30']

Generate and plot the electron energy spectra and PAD:

MMS> mms_part_products, 'mms1_des_dist_brst', trange=['2015-10-16/13:02:30', '2015-10-16/13:07:30'], mag_name='mms1_fgm_b_dmpa_srvy_l2_bvec', pos_name='mms1_defeph_pos', outputs=['energy','pa']

MMS> tdegap, '*_des_dist_brst_*', /overwrite ; be sure not to interpolate through data gaps

MMS> tplot, ['mms1_des_dist_brst_energy', 'mms1_des_dist_brst_pa']

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  MMS1 FPI electron spectra and PAD on October 16, 2015