BARREL 1C: Tri-axial Magnetometer Data from Stratospheric Balloons

BARREL was a NASA Living with a Star Mission of Opportunity designed to study electron losses from Earth's Radiation Belts. Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched across four campaigns from Antarctica and Sweden between 2013 and 2016, carrying instruments to measure magnetic field variations. This Level 2 dataset provides three-axis DC magnetometer data at 0.25-second resolution, without gain correction or despinning.

Use Cases

• Analyze ULF-timescale magnetic field variations based on three-axis DC magnetometer measurements
• Study spatial and temporal patterns of electron precipitation from radiation belts based on balloon constellation data
• Coordinate multi-instrument studies by correlating balloon magnetic field data with satellite and ground-based observations mentioned in the description

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns from 2013 to 2016
• Campaigns were coordinated with multiple satellite missions and ground-based instruments like EISCAT
• Provides measurements at stratospheric altitudes (~30 km) near polar circles

Limitations

• Data are neither gain corrected nor despun, which may require additional processing for some analyses
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected by DC magnetometers on stratospheric balloons launched from Halley Bay, SANAE IV, and Esrange Space Center.

Time Range

Campaigns conducted in January-February 2013, 2014, and August 2015, 2016.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:29:01.671255; freshness should be verified

Geography

Launch sites in Antarctica (Halley Bay, SANAE IV) and Sweden (Kiruna); balloons flew near Antarctic and Arctic circles.