BARREL 2D: Magnetic Field Data from Antarctic and Arctic Balloon Campaigns

The BARREL mission conducted balloon campaigns in the Austral summers of 2013 and 2014 from Antarctic bases, and later campaigns in 2015 and 2016 from Kiruna, Sweden. It provides three-axis DC magnetometer data at 0.25-second intervals, collected from stratospheric balloons to study electron precipitation from Earth's Radiation Belts. The data was produced by NASA as part of the Living with a Star program.

Use Cases

• Studying ULF-timescale magnetic field variations based on the DC magnetometer measurements mentioned in the description
• Characterizing the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on the mission's stated purpose
• Analyzing electron losses from Earth's Radiation Belts based on the balloon constellation's evolving array design
• Coordinating multi-instrument studies by using data collected alongside the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground-based instruments

Strengths

• Data is collected from over 50 stratospheric balloons launched across four campaigns
• Provides measurements coordinated with multiple satellite missions and ground-based instruments
• Offers high-resolution magnetic field data at 0.25-second intervals

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 is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data collected from DC magnetometers on stratospheric balloons launched from Antarctic bases and Kiruna, Sweden.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:57:56.244887; freshness should be verified

Geography

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