BARREL 2C: Tri-axial Magnetometer Data from Stratospheric Balloon Campaigns

Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched across four campaigns from 2013 to 2016, providing tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer measurements. The BARREL mission, a NASA Living with a Star project, collected this data to study electron losses from Earth's radiation belts in coordination with the Van Allen Probes. Observations were made from Antarctic and Arctic circle latitudes at stratospheric altitudes of about 30 km.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ULF-timescale magnetic field variations based on tri-axial DC magnetometer measurements.
• Characterizing the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on multi-balloon array data.
• Correlating balloon-based magnetic field data with in-situ satellite measurements from the Van Allen Probes.
• Studying magnetospheric dynamics and wave-particle interactions in the radiation belts.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns (2013-2016), providing extensive temporal coverage.
• Coordinated measurements with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground/space-based instruments for multi-instrument analysis.
• First balloon measurements of relativistic electron precipitation coincident with comprehensive in-situ satellite data.

Limitations

• Data are neither gain corrected nor despun, which may require additional processing for some analyses.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and data volume are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from tri-axial DC magnetometers carried on small stratospheric balloons.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 13:30:09.745323; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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