BARREL 2B MSPC: Bremsstrahlung X-ray Spectra from Radiation Belt Balloons

BARREL was a NASA balloon mission designed to study electron losses from Earth's Radiation Belts. Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched from Antarctica and Sweden between 2013 and 2016, carrying X-ray spectrometers to detect precipitation. The MSPC instrument provides 48-channel medium time resolution spectra covering an energy range from 0 MeV to 4 MeV.

Use Cases

• Characterizing the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on balloon array measurements.
• Studying electron losses from Earth's Radiation Belts based on bremsstrahlung X-ray detection.
• Correlating precipitation events with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes.
• Analyzing ULF-timescale magnetic field variations using the co-located DC magnetometer data.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns.
• Spectra cover a nominal energy range from 0 MeV to 4 MeV across 48 channels.
• Campaigns were 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.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Balloon-borne X-ray spectrometer (NaI Scintillator) measurements.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:01:40.428367; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Launches from Halley Bay, Antarctica; SANAE IV base, Antarctica; and Esrange Space Center, Kiruna, Sweden.