BARREL 2C Ephemeris: Balloon GPS and Magnetic Coordinates at 4-Second Intervals

Four balloon campaigns conducted between 2013 and 2016 from Antarctica and Sweden collected this data. The dataset contains geographic and magnetic coordinate ephemeris for over 50 stratospheric balloons, with measurements returned every 4 seconds. Geographic coordinates were obtained from onboard GPS, while magnetic coordinates were derived using the IRBEM library as part of NASA's BARREL mission to study electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal variations in balloon position based on 4-second epoch time data
• Map relativistic electron precipitation events using derived magnetic coordinates
• Correlate balloon-based X-ray spectrometer measurements with geographic location
• Study spatial scales of precipitation by analyzing the constellation of balloon positions

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns
• Measurements recorded at a high temporal resolution of 4 seconds
• Coordinates derived from dual sources: onboard GPS and the IRBEM library

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

Data returned from balloon payloads carrying GPS units and magnetometers.

Time Range

Campaigns in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 04:00:36.565786; freshness should be verified

Geography

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