Voyager 1 48-s Triaxial Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAG) Magnetic Field Data in ASCII Format

The average magnetic field strength produced by the spacecraft at the location of the
outboard magnetometer, of the dual magnetometers system on V1, varies between 0.1 and 0.2 nT, comparable
to the most probable magnetic field strength in the inner heliosheath and significantly larger
than the most probable magnetic field strength in the distant supersonic solar wind. The spacecraft
magnetic field is a complex, time-dependent signal that must be removed from the measured magnetic
field signal in order to derive the ambient magnetic fields of the solar wind and heliosheath.
Corrections must also be made for spurious magnetic signals and noise associated with the telemetry
system, ground tracking systems, and other factors. Extracting the signal describing the solar wind
and heliosheath from the many sources of uncertainty is a complex and partly subjective process that
requires understanding of the instrument and judgment based on experience in dealing with the
ever-changing extraneous signals. We estimate that the 1-sigma uncertainty in the 48 sec averages
in the components of the magnetic field is typically +/- 0.02 nT. The uncertainties in F1, BR, BT,
and BN can differ from one another and they may vary with time, but there is no practical way to
determine these uncertainties more precisely at present. This descriptor, and the data
access path identified below, are specific to 48s Voyager 1 MAG data taken when the spacecraft
was in the vicinity of, and beyond, the heliospheric termination shock.

References

Behannon, K.W., M.H. Acuna, L.F. Burlaga, R.P. Lepping, N.F. Ness, and F.M. Neubauer,
Magnetic-Field Experiment for Voyager-1 and Voyager-2, Space Science Reviews, 21 (3), 235-257, 1977.

Burlaga, L.F., Merged interaction regions and large-scale magnetic field fluctuations during 1991 -
Voyager-2 observations, J. Geophys. Res., 99 (A10), 19341-19350, 1994.

Burlaga, L.F., N.F. Ness, Y.-M. Wang, and N.R. Sheeley Jr., Heliospheric magnetic field strength and
polarity from 1 to 81 AU during the ascending phase of solar cycle 23, J. Geophys. Res., 107 (A11), 1410, 2002.

Ness, N., K.W. Behannon, R. Lepping, and K.H. Schatten, J. Geophys. Res., , 76, 3564, 1971.