BARREL 1B Data Processing Unit (HKPG) Analog Housekeeping Voltage, Temperature, Current, a

Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched across four campaigns from Antarctica and Sweden to study electron losses from Earth's radiation belts. This dataset provides housekeeping voltage, temperature, current, and payload status values recorded every 40 seconds by the BARREL mission's instrumentation. The mission was a NASA Living with a Star Mission of Opportunity designed to augment the Van Allen Probes.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal variations in instrument health based on voltage and current readings.
• Correlating payload status with environmental conditions or scientific events mentioned in the mission description.
• Studying the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation using data from the balloon constellation.
• Modeling system performance and anomalies based on the recorded temperature and housekeeping data.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four separate campaigns in 2013-2016.
• Provides measurements at a consistent 40-second temporal resolution.
• Mission was coordinated with the Van Allen Probes and other ground and space-based instruments.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The description notes analog sensor data is based on a nominal layout, and some payloads may have unreflected differences.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by instrumentation on BARREL mission stratospheric balloons carrying X-ray spectrometers and DC magnetometers.

Time Range

Campaigns conducted in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 14:22:22.960657; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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