BARREL 2C Rate Counter: 4-Second Accumulations of Electron Precipitation Diagnostics

The BARREL mission conducted balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016, launching over 50 stratospheric balloons from Antarctica and Sweden. This Level 2 data product provides 4-second accumulations of uncalibrated rate counter measurements from NaI scintillators, used to diagnose relativistic electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts. The mission was a NASA Living with a Star project designed to augment the Van Allen Probes mission.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal variations in electron precipitation based on 4-second rate count accumulations.
• Characterizing the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on multi-balloon constellation data.
• Correlating balloon-based X-ray measurements with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes.
• Studying ULF-timescale magnetic field variations using coordinated DC magnetometer data mentioned in the mission description.

Strengths

• Data spans four campaigns from 2013 to 2016, providing multi-year observations.
• Over 50 stratospheric balloon launches provide a spatially distributed measurement array.
• Coordinated measurements with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground-based instruments like EISCAT radar.

Limitations

• Rate count values are uncalibrated and may wrap near or above 16384 counts/s.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total data volume are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from rate counters on BARREL mission stratospheric balloons carrying X-ray spectrometers and DC magnetometers.

Time Range

2013 to 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13:27:59.295225; 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).