Data archive for EDI instrument on Cluster spacecrafts: measurements and data processing

The Electron Drift Instrument(EDI) onboard of four Cluster spacecrafts measures electric filed E in the near Earth orbit. By measuring a drift of 1keV electrons the instrument determines the value of the electric field E in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field B.

The Cluster mission life-time is more then 20 years. Over this time the EDI provides data for electric field, drift velocity, electron counts. Data are provided with various time intervals from milliseconds to 4seconds. Therefore it is possible to track fast changes in boundaries.

Instrument teams collect data, extracts physical values from raw data, calibrate them and deliver these values as data products to ESA central archive.

Once the instrument is in space many aspects of data handling become routines and can be automated. In the last decade the industrial big data segment produced many tools that can be used to automate scientific data processing.