BARREL 1R Ephemeris: Balloon GPS and Magnetic Coordinates at 4-Second Resolution

BARREL 1R Ephemeris Level 2 data provides geographic and magnetic coordinates for stratospheric balloons. The dataset includes balloon epoch time, latitude, longitude, and altitude recorded every 4 seconds from GPS and derived via the IRBEM library. Collected by NASA's BARREL mission during campaigns from 2013 to 2016, it supports studies of electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts.

Use Cases

• Mapping balloon trajectories over time based on 4-second GPS coordinates.
• Analyzing magnetic field variations derived from IRBEM library calculations.
• Studying spatial scales of relativistic electron precipitation using balloon constellation data.
• Correlating stratospheric balloon measurements with ground-based radar and satellite observations.

Strengths

• Coordinates are recorded at a high temporal resolution of 4 seconds.
• Data is derived from multiple sources: onboard GPS and the IRBEM FORTRAN library.
• Campaigns spanned four years (2013-2016) and over 50 balloon launches.
• Coordinated 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.
• Data files are in specialized formats (BIN, PDF, TEXT, HTML) requiring specific tools.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected from onboard GPS units on stratospheric balloons and processed using the IRBEM library.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:13:18.829924; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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