BARREL 1A: Balloon Measurements of Radiation Belt Electron Precipitation

Antarctic and Arctic stratospheric balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016 collected this data. The NASA BARREL mission measured uncalibrated rate counts from NaI scintillators in 4-second accumulations to study relativistic electron losses from Earth's radiation belts. Over 50 small balloons were launched from stations in Antarctica and Sweden, coordinating with the Van Allen Probes mission.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal variations in electron precipitation based on 4-second rate count accumulations.
• Characterizing the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on multi-balloon array data.
• Correlating balloon-based X-ray measurements with in-situ satellite data from the Van Allen Probes.
• Studying Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) magnetic field variations using the described DC magnetometer data.

Strengths

• Data spans four campaigns from 2013 to 2016, providing multi-year temporal coverage.
• Over 50 balloon payloads were launched, offering spatial measurements across magnetic local time.
• Coordinated measurements with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground-based instruments.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Rate count values are uncalibrated and have a wrap limit near 16384 counts/s.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from rate counters on stratospheric balloons carrying X-ray spectrometers and DC magnetometers.

Time Range

2013 to 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 04:32:14.734238; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Balloon launches from Halley Bay and SANAE IV, Antarctica, and Esrange Space Center, Kiruna, Sweden.