Dataset
Data and code from: "Evolution of lunar wake potentials: structure, energy conversion, and their imprints on velocity distributions"
Dryad
08/18/2026
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.dv41ns2dd
Abstract
This dataset comprises two components supporting a study of electric
potential structure and particle energization in the lunar wake: (1)
output from a one-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of the
lunar wake, performed with VPIC, and (2) ARTEMIS spacecraft observations
of a lunar wake crossing on October 26, 2011. The simulation component
includes electromagnetic field data (Ex), particle moment (hydrodynamic)
quantities including density, momentum density, current, and pressure,
separately resolved for electrons originating from the left and right
sides of the simulation domain, and reduced ion and electron velocity
distribution functions (phase space density as a function of position and
parallel velocity). The simulation spans a domain of 600 electron inertial
lengths (60 ion inertial lengths) resolved with 300,000 grid cells, and
12,000 output time steps. Field and particle quantities are stored in
VPIC's native binary output format and are read using the
accompanying ReadFile Python module. The observational component consists
of IDL save files (.sav) containing ARTEMIS P1 and P2 fluxgate
magnetometer data, electrostatic analyzer moments (density, bulk velocity,
temperature) for ions and electrons, spacecraft position, and reduced ion
and electron parallel velocity distribution functions, along with a
precomputed inferred electric potential and separatrix velocity, covering
the interval 11:43-12:43 UT on October 26, 2011. Four Jupyter notebooks
are included to demonstrate how to read, process, and visualize both
components, reproducing the primary figures of the associated study: the
spatiotemporal evolution of the wake electric potential, the electron
force-balance verification, the two-scale energy conversion and electron
velocity distribution signatures, and the comparison with ARTEMIS
observations. This dataset may be reused to study electric potential
structure, electron and ion kinetic dynamics, and energy conversion
processes in the lunar wake, or as a reference dataset for validating
other lunar wake or plasma expansion simulations. The dataset contains no
human subjects data, personally identifiable information, or other
legal/ethical concerns; the ARTEMIS spacecraft data are derived from
public NASA mission observations.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Data and code from: "Evolution of lunar wake potentials: structure, energy conversion, and their imprints on velocity distributions"
- Creators
- Xin An - University of California, Los AngelesVassilis Angelopoulos - University of California, Los AngelesJasper Halekas - University of IowaTerry Zixu Liu - Shandong UniversityShaosui Xu - University of California, BerkeleyAndrew Poppe - University of California, BerkeleyFerdinand Plaschke - Technische Universität Braunschweig
- Resource Type
- Dataset
- DOI
- 10.5061/dryad.dv41ns2dd
- Publisher
- Dryad
- Grant note
- 80NSSC22K1634 / Heliophysics Science Division (https://ror.org/03myraf72) 80NSSC25K7047 / NASA Planetary Science (https://ror.org/04cr1bk24) 50 OC 2201 / Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (https://ror.org/04bwf3e34) NAS5-02099 / Heliophysics Science Division (https://ror.org/03myraf72)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/18/2026
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9985220940602771
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