An Accurate Solar Wind Electron Database From the 3DP Experiment Onboard the Wind Spacecraft

The solar wind electron population comprises several distinct populations, including the cold and dense core electrons, the hotter and more tenuous halo electrons, and the field-aligned strahl beam. We have analyzed electron distribution functions from the Wind 3DP instrument, generating an accurate database of core, halo and strahl electron parameters, including temperature anisotropies and heat fluxes. This database, resulting from the analysis of several years of Wind data, is a promising tool for probing electron thermodynamics and universal plasma processes observable in the solar wind. We present a detailed summary of our analysis technique, including descriptions of how we deal with crucial issues such as spacecraft potential and combining data from detectors covering different energy ranges. This technique leads to a precise characterization of both the thermal and suprathermal populations.