Useful information

PEACE operations history key

Note - this information is reproduced/adapted from the official PEACE operations web-site:
www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/www_plasma/missions/cluster, and was correct at the time of writing. For an up-to-date version, please visit the website

The experiment mode can be summarised by a string, each section of which describes some aspect of the operation of PEACE:

AmB-CmD-cplrstxyf-apl-XwZ

The first two sections describe the energy coverage of HEEA and LEEA. Here HEEA is operating from level A to B, and LEEA from C to D. The next section describes how the DPU is generating moments (note that all codes have been shown in the above example, but this is only for completeness. In reality PEACE will be operating with some combination of these). The codes can be summarised as follows:

c	CORE	includes moments
p	PAD	pitch angle data
l	LER	reduced resolution low energy data
r	3DR	reduced /8 resolution data from HEEA and LEEA
s	3DR	reduced /8 resolution data from LEEA only
t	3DR	reduced /8 resolution data from HEEA only
x	3DX1	reduced by variable degree resolution 3D data, one sensor
y	3DX2	second 3DX in same spin
f	3DF	full resoltion 3D data from HEEA and LEEA

Note that these operation codes appear in order of precidence. The final sections describe how the 3DX data is being calculated.

a	all azimuths (t for 2 azimuths, cartwheel slice)
p	adds together pairs of anodes (e for pairs of energy bins, n for no summing)
l	data from LEEA (h if from HEEA)
XwZ	3DX data contains a subset (levels X to Z) of the range covered by LEEA/HEEA.
nw	`no window' - there was no subsetting of energy levels

As an example, consider the operations code:

88m28-60m00-cplxt-apl-60w08

Here we can tell that HEEA was operating between levels 88 and 28 and LEEA was operating between levels 60 and 00. CORE data (c) was transmitted along with pitch angle data (p) and reduced resolution low energy data (l). There are reduced resolution 3DX moments from one sensor (x) and reduced angular resolution 3DR moments from HEEA. The 3DX moments are summed over all azimuths (a) and pairs of anodes (p) and the data comes from LEEA (l). Energy levels 00 to 08 are discarded.

Cluster spacecraft identifiers, nomenclature and plotting guidelines

Note - this information is reproduced/adapted a website maintained by Mike Hapgood:
jsoc1.bnsc.rl.ac.uk/pub/cluster_ids.html, and was correct at the time of writing. For an up-to-date version, please visit the website

Spacecraft identification
ESA name	Rumba	Salsa	Samba	Tango
Launch date	2000/08/09	2000/07/16	2000/07/16	2000/08/09
ESA no.	1	2	3	4
COSPAR ID	2000-045A	2000-041B	2000-041A	2000-045B
USSPACECOM cat. no.	26463	26411	26410	26464
CSDS code	C1	C2	C3	C4
ESIC FD code	S1	S2	S3	S4
ESA flight model no.	FM5	FM6	FM7	FM8
Plotting guidelines
Colour	Black	Red	Green	Magenta
Line style	Solid	Dashed	Dotted	Dash-dot-dot-dot
Symbols (line segments)	Cross	Plus	Asterisk	Star
Symbols (solid filled)	Square	Diamond	Circle	Triangle

1. ESA no. This is the spacecraft ID used in Cluster operations by ESOC and JSOC.
2. COSPAR ID (also known as the International Designation). This ID is assigned by World Data Center A for Rockets and Satellites at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center following spacecraft launch. It is the unique designator that is required for all spacecraft under international law. It takes the form YYYY-LLLI, where YYYY is the year of launch, LLL is the launch number and I is a letter that distinguishes the different items launched.
3. USSPACECOM catalogue number (also known as the NORAD catalogue number). This is the catalogue number assigned by NORAD when an object is first tracked.
4. CSDS code. This is the two-character spacecraft code used in the data products produced by the Cluster Science Data System (CSDS).
5. ESOC FD code. This is the two-character spacecraft code used in the names of orbit and event files produced by ESOC Flight Dynamics.
6. ESA Flight Model number. These are the numbers used by ESA during the construction and ground testing of the Cluster-II spacecraft. Note that this sequence follows on from that used for the construction and ground testing of the original Cluster-I spacecraft.
7. Symbols. The first set of symbols are made out of line segments, whereas the second set may be either outlines or solid-filled. Note that asterisks have 6 legs and stars have 5 points.