BARREL 1G Magnetometer Data: Tri-axial Magnetic Field Measurements from Balloon Campaigns

Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched across four campaigns to study electron losses from Earth's radiation belts. The BARREL mission, a NASA Living with a Star project, collected three-axis DC magnetometer data at 0.25-second resolution from altitudes near 30 km over Antarctica and Sweden. This Level 2 data provides magnetic field measurements without gain correction or despinning.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ULF-timescale magnetic field variations based on tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer data
• Studying spatial and temporal scales of relativistic electron precipitation based on coordinated balloon and satellite observations
• Correlating magnetic field perturbations with X-ray spectrometer measurements from the same balloon payloads
• Modeling magnetospheric mapping and precipitation events based on data from a slowly moving balloon array

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns (2013-2016)
• Provides high-resolution 0.25-second tri-axial magnetic field measurements
• Coordinated with multiple satellite missions, including the Van Allen Probes, and ground-based instruments

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from tri-axial DC magnetometers carried on stratospheric balloons launched from Antarctica and Sweden.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:24:48.281122; freshness should be verified

Geography

Balloon launches from Halley Bay and SANAE IV base in Antarctica, and Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden; observations at stratospheric altitudes (~30 km).