BARREL 1S: Balloon Housekeeping Voltage, Temperature, Current, and Status, 40 s Data

BARREL 1S Data Processing Unit housekeeping data provides voltage, temperature, current, and payload status values recorded every 40 seconds. The dataset was produced by NASA's BARREL mission, which launched over 50 stratospheric balloons from Antarctica (2013-2014) and Sweden (2015-2016) to study electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts. The data is Level 2 processed and was last updated on the platform in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal variations in instrument health based on housekeeping voltage and current readings.
• Correlating payload status with environmental conditions during balloon flights.
• Studying the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation by combining data from multiple balloon payloads.
• Validating and augmenting in-situ measurements from the Van Allen Probes mission using balloon-based X-ray spectrometer data.

Strengths

• Data is collected at a regular 40-second cadence, providing a consistent time series.
• Over 50 balloon flights were conducted across four campaigns, offering multiple data points.
• Mission was designed to coordinate with the Van Allen Probes and other ground-based instruments, enabling multi-instrument studies.

Limitations

• Analog sensor data is based on a nominal layout; some payloads may have differences not reflected in these records.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and data volume are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from X-ray spectrometers and DC magnetometers carried on stratospheric balloons.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 13:54:01.341393; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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