BARREL 2A: Rate Counter Data for Radiation Belt Electron Precipitation, 2013-2016

Four balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016 collected this data from the BARREL mission, a NASA Living with a Star Mission of Opportunity. The dataset consists of 4-second accumulations of uncalibrated rate count measurements from NaI scintillator diagnostics, designed to study electron losses from Earth's Radiation Belts. Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched from Antarctica and Sweden, providing measurements to augment the Van Allen Probes mission.

Use Cases

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

Strengths

• Data spans four distinct campaigns from 2013 to 2016, providing multi-year coverage.
• Over 50 balloon flights were launched, offering a substantial observational dataset.
• Measurements were coordinated with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground/space-based instruments like EISCAT.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Rate count values have uncalibrated energy ranges and wrap near or above 16384 counts/s, which may affect analysis.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific modeling tasks.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from rate counters on stratospheric balloons launched during the BARREL mission.

Time Range

2013 to 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13:37:22.041845; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Balloon launches from Halley Bay and SANAE IV base in Antarctica (2013-2014) and Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden (2015-2016).