BARREL: Electron Precipitation Diagnostics from Antarctic and Arctic Balloons

BARREL was a NASA balloon mission studying electron losses from Earth's radiation belts. Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched from Antarctica and Sweden between 2013 and 2016, carrying X-ray spectrometers and magnetometers. The Level 2 data product contains 4-second accumulations of diagnostic rate counter measurements from NaI scintillators.

Use Cases

• Characterize spatial scales of relativistic electron precipitation based on balloon array measurements.
• Study electron losses from radiation belts based on coordinated balloon and Van Allen Probes data.
• Analyze bremsstrahlung X-ray production based on spectrometer measurements of precipitating electrons.
• Investigate ULF-timescale magnetic field variations based on DC magnetometer data.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns from 2013 to 2016.
• Coordinated measurements with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground/space instruments.
• Provides first balloon measurements of relativistic electron precipitation with comprehensive in situ data available.

Limitations

• Rate count data are diagnostic fields with uncalibrated energy ranges and wrap near or above 16384 counts/s.
• 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

Measurements from rate counters on BARREL balloon payloads.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:21:49.075523; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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