MMS Science Operations, Science Data System, and Data Access
Friday, October 2, 2015: 2:00 PM
Barbara L Giles1, Daniel N. Baker2, Stephen A Fuselier3, Robert Ergun2, Steven M Petrinec4, James L Burch3, Roy B Torbert3,5, Thomas Earle Moore1, Christopher K Pankratz2, Jason Beech2, Russell S Panneton2, Kristopher William Larsen2, Tai Phan6, Mitsuo Oka6, Frederick D Wilder2, Barry Mauk7, Craig J Pollock1, Rumi Nakamura8, Katherine Goodrich9, Kim Kokkonen2, Douglas M Lindholm2, Kenneth R Bromund1 and William S Lewis3, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, CO, United States, (3)Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, (4)Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, CA, United States, (5)Univ New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, (6)University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, (7)Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins, Laurel, MD, United States, (8)Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria, (9)University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States
Abstract:
The most significant challenge to MMS science operations management is the considerable disparity between the measurement capabilities of the instrumentation and the spacecraft downlink data rate. The four spacecraft collect a combined volume of ~100 gigabits per day of particle and field data. On average, only 4 gigabits of that volume can be transmitted to the ground. To maximize the scientific value of each transmitted data segment, the members of the MMS Science Working Group (SWG) work closely together to define the seasonal mission operation profiles and priority science targets. The MMS Science Operations Center (SOC) then manages science operations, instrument operations, and the selection, downlink, distribution, and archiving of the data sets. The SOC is managed by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in Boulder, Colorado and serves as the primary point of contact for community participation in the mission. Arguably, the most important innovation is the MMS burst data management and selection system. With nested automation and “Scientist-in-the-Loop” (SITL) processes, these systems maximize the value of the burst data by prioritizing the data segments selected for transmission to the ground. In this presentation, we review the system as implemented for Phase 1A of the mission and present the first metrics of its accomplishments and success.
