BARREL: Bremsstrahlung X-ray Spectra from Balloon Campaigns, 2013-2016

BARREL 1U X-ray Spectrometer Level 2 data provides fast time resolution (0.05 s) measurements of Bremsstrahlung X-ray spectra from precipitating relativistic electrons. The dataset was collected by NASA's BARREL mission, which launched over 50 stratospheric balloons from Antarctica and Sweden during campaigns from 2013 to 2016. It includes four spectral channels (FSPC1-FSPC4) covering an energy range from 0 MeV to 1.5 MeV.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal variations in electron precipitation based on the 50 ms time resolution data
• Characterizing spatial scales of relativistic energy precipitation based on multi-balloon constellation measurements
• Correlating X-ray spectra with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes mission
• Studying magnetic local time (MLT) dependencies of precipitation using the balloon array data

Strengths

• Provides measurements with a fast 50-millisecond time resolution
• Covers four spectral channels (FSPC1-FSPC4) across a 0-1.5 MeV energy range
• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across multiple campaigns (2013-2016)
• 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 may reflect geographic bias inherent to the Antarctic and Arctic launch sites

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measured by X-ray spectrometers and DC magnetometers carried on stratospheric balloons.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 04:40:34.126192; freshness should be verified

Geography

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