BARREL 2F Ephemeris: Balloon GPS and Magnetic Coordinates

Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched across four campaigns from 2013 to 2016. The BARREL mission, a NASA Living with a Star project, measured electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts using X-ray spectrometers and magnetometers. Geographic coordinates were obtained from onboard GPS, and magnetic coordinates were derived using the IRBEM library.

Use Cases

• Mapping electron precipitation events based on balloon latitude, longitude, and altitude.
• Correlating magnetic field variations with satellite in-situ plasma wave measurements.
• Analyzing spatial scales of relativistic electron precipitation using the balloon constellation array.
• Studying magnetospheric processes by converting geographic coordinates to magnetic coordinates.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns.
• Coordinates derived from onboard GPS and the established IRBEM library.
• Campaigns coordinated with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground/space instruments.

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 every 4 seconds.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:55:04.505390; freshness should be verified

Geography

Balloon launches from Antarctica (Halley Bay, SANAE IV) and Kiruna, Sweden.