BARREL 1K: Balloon Ephemeris Coordinates for Radiation Belt Studies

The BARREL mission conducted balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016, launching over 50 stratospheric balloons from Antarctica and Sweden. This Level 2 dataset provides geographic and magnetic coordinates, including balloon epoch time, latitude, longitude, and altitude, recorded every 4 seconds. Geographic coordinates came from onboard GPS, while magnetic coordinates were derived using the IRBEM library.

Use Cases

• Analyze electron precipitation spatial scales based on balloon measurements at relativistic energies
• Correlate precipitation events with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes
• Study magnetic field variations on ULF timescales based on onboard DC magnetometer data
• Map balloon trajectories and magnetic local time coverage based on geographic and derived magnetic coordinates

Strengths

• Coordinates are recorded at a high temporal resolution of 4 seconds
• Data is derived from coordinated campaigns involving over 50 balloon launches
• Magnetic coordinates are calculated using the established IRBEM FORTRAN library

Limitations

• 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 from onboard GPS and DC magnetometers on stratospheric balloons, with magnetic coordinates derived via IRBEM library.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:19:38.790699; freshness should be verified

Geography

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