BARREL 1Q Rate Counter: 4-Second Accumulations of Electron Precipitation Diagnostics

Over 50 stratospheric balloon flights from 2013 to 2016 collected this data, which consists of 4-second accumulations of rate counter measurements. The BARREL mission, a NASA Living with a Star project, was designed to study electron losses from Earth's Radiation Belts by measuring bremsstrahlung X-rays and magnetic field variations. Observations were conducted from Antarctic bases and a Swedish space center to provide spatial and temporal data on relativistic electron precipitation.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal variations in electron precipitation based on 4-second rate count accumulations.
• Characterize the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on multi-balloon array measurements.
• Correlate balloon-based X-ray diagnostics with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes.
• Study ULF-timescale magnetic field variations using the included DC magnetometer data mentioned in the description.

Strengths

• Data spans four campaigns from 2013 to 2016, providing multi-year coverage.
• Over 50 balloon payloads were launched, constituting an evolving observational array.
• Coordinated measurements with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground/space instruments.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Rate count values are uncalibrated and may wrap near or above 16384 counts/s.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from rate counters on small stratospheric balloons carrying X-ray spectrometers and DC magnetometers.

Time Range

2013 to 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 14:02:25.428160; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Antarctic (Halley Bay, SANAE IV) and Arctic (Kiruna, Sweden) regions near the polar circles.