BARREL 2F: Tri-axial Magnetometer Data for Radiation Belt Studies

BARREL was a NASA balloon mission designed to study electron losses from Earth's Radiation Belts. Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched from Antarctica and Sweden between 2013 and 2016, carrying magnetometers to measure magnetic field variations. The data likely contains three-axis DC magnetometer readings at a 0.25-second cadence, neither gain corrected nor despun.

Use Cases

• Analyze Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) magnetic field variations based on DC magnetometer measurements.
• Study spatial and temporal scales of relativistic electron precipitation based on balloon constellation data.
• Correlate electron precipitation events with in-situ plasma wave and particle measurements from the Van Allen Probes.
• Characterize the magnetic local time (MLT) distribution of precipitation events based on balloon array positioning.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns from 2013 to 2016.
• Provides measurements coordinated with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground-based instruments.
• Offers balloon-based magnetic field data at stratospheric altitudes (~30 km) near polar circles.

Limitations

• Data are neither gain corrected nor despun, requiring additional processing for certain 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 by DC magnetometers on stratospheric balloons launched from Antarctica and Sweden.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:54:27.643712; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Launch sites in Antarctica (Halley Bay, SANAE IV) and Sweden (Esrange Space Center, Kiruna); observations near Antarctic and Arctic circles.