BARREL 1B: Tri-axial Magnetometer Data from Stratospheric Balloon Campaigns

Three-axis DC magnetometer data from the BARREL mission's stratospheric balloons. The mission, a NASA Living with a Star project, launched over 50 balloons from Antarctica and Sweden between 2013 and 2016 to study electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts. Data are provided at a 0.25-second resolution, are not gain-corrected or despun, and were collected at altitudes near 30 km.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ULF-timescale magnetic field variations based on the tri-axial magnetometer measurements.
• Studying spatial and temporal scales of relativistic electron precipitation based on the multi-balloon array design.
• Correlating balloon-based magnetic field data with in-situ satellite measurements from missions like the Van Allen Probes.
• Characterizing the spatial scale of precipitation at relativistic energies based on the mission's stated scientific objective.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 stratospheric balloon flights across four campaigns.
• Campaigns were coordinated with multiple satellite missions and ground-based instruments.
• Provides high-resolution 0.25-second magnetic field measurements.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data are explicitly not gain-corrected or despun, which may require additional processing for some analyses.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measured by DC magnetometers carried on small stratospheric balloons.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 14:23:46.856109; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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