DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15706295
title: MESSENGER Magnetospheric Boundary Crossings

description: MESSENGER Magnetospheric Boundary Crossings

Description

Time stamps and labels for bow shock and magnetopause crossings automatically labelled for the MESSENGER mission. This list of crossings was determined using a random forest model as a region classifier (accuracy >98%) for MESSENGER MAG and ephemeris data (https://doi.org/10.17189/1519745). This model was trained based on regions of known solar wind, magnetosheath, and magnetosphere data, determined using a list of boundary crossing intervals by Philpott et al. (2020) (https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JA027544).

This data repository contains three files:



raw_model_output.csv

hollman_2025_crossing_list.csv

prepared_data.csv


raw_model_output.csv

This file contains the full set of region predictions/probabilities from the region classifier model in Hollman et al. (in review, 2025). We recommend this to be used (and interpreted manually) for detailed examination of individual crossings.




Column:
Description:


Time


The timestamp for this model prediction. Classifications were only made every second, and only near Philpott boundary crossing intervals. Time is in the format:

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (with possible decimal seconds)



P(Solar Wind)
Probability of solar wind


P(Magnetosheath)
Probability of magnetosheath


P(Magnetosphere)
Probability of magnetosphere




 

hollman_2025_crossing_list.csv

This file contains a post-processed / corrected list of crossings based on raw_model_ouptut.csv. Details of the post-processing steps are included in Hollman et al. (in review, 2025). We recommend this list to be used for statistical studies of boundaries or regions. For more details, including worked examples, please see the software repository.




Column:
Description:


Time


The timestamp for this crossing. Time is in the format:

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (with possible decimal seconds)



Label


A combination of boundary (BS: bow shock, MP: magnetosphere) and direction (IN: inwards, i.e. crossing from solar wind to magnetosheath, OUT: outwards, i.e. crossing from magnetosheath to solar wind).

Examples:

BS_IN: Solar wind -> Magnetosheath

MP_OUT: Magnetosphere -> Magnetosheath





 

prepared_data.csv

This file contains the resulting dataset after data preparation. Each row corresponds to a window of data 10 seconds long, and contains features describing the distribution of data within that time. These data are randomly split into a training and a testing dataset with a ratio of 9:1.




Column:
Description:


Sample Start


The start of this data window

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (with possible decimal seconds)



Sample End


The end of this data window

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS (with possible decimal seconds)



Mean |B|, ... Bx, ... By, ... Bz
[nT]


Median |B|, ... Bx, ... By, ... Bz
[nT]


Standard Deviation |B|, ... Bx, ... By, ... Bz
[nT]


Skew |B|, ... Bx, ... By, ... Bz
Unitless


Kurtosis |B|, ... Bx, ... By, ... Bz
Unitless


Heliocentric Distance (AU)
[AU]


Local Time (hrs)
[Hours]


Latitude (deg.)
[Degrees]


Magnetic Latitude (deg.)
[Degrees]


Mercury Distance (radii)
[Mercury Radii]


X MSM' (radii)
[Mercury Radii]


Y MSM' (radii)
[Mercury Radii]


Z MSM' (radii)
[Mercury Radii]


Label
Choice of [Solar Wind, Magnetosheath, Magnetosphere]


Boundary ID
Index of boundary interval