BARREL 2D Ephemeris: Balloon GPS and Magnetic Coordinates at 4s Resolution

BARREL 2D Ephemeris Level 2 data provides geographic and magnetic coordinates for stratospheric balloons at 4-second intervals. The dataset was produced by NASA's BARREL mission, which launched over 50 balloons from Antarctica and Sweden between 2013 and 2016 to study electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts. Geographic coordinates are sourced from onboard GPS, while magnetic coordinates are derived using the IRBEM library.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal patterns of relativistic electron precipitation based on balloon location and epoch time
• Mapping spatial scales of precipitation events using latitude, longitude, and altitude coordinates
• Correlating balloon magnetic field measurements with in-situ satellite data from the Van Allen Probes
• Studying the evolution of balloon arrays across magnetic local time (MLT) for constellation analysis

Strengths

• Data is collected at a high temporal resolution of 4 seconds
• Coordinates are derived from two authoritative sources: onboard GPS and the IRBEM FORTRAN library
• Campaigns spanned multiple years (2013-2016) and locations (Antarctica and Sweden)
• Over 50 balloon payloads were launched, providing a multi-platform dataset

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data formats include BIN and PDF, which may require specialized tools for processing

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected from onboard GPS and magnetometers on stratospheric balloons, processed using the IRBEM library.

Time Range

Campaigns conducted in January-February 2013 and 2014, and August 2015 and 2016.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:57:26.074924; freshness should be verified

Geography

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