BARREL 2I Rate Counter (RCNT) NaI Scintillator Diagnostics, 4 s Accumulations

Four balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016 collected this data from stratospheric altitudes near the Antarctic and Arctic circles. The dataset contains 4-second accumulations of rate counter measurements from NaI scintillators, used as diagnostic fields with uncalibrated energy ranges. It was produced by NASA's BARREL mission to study relativistic electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts in coordination with the Van Allen Probes.

Use Cases

• Analyze temporal variations in electron precipitation based on 4-second rate count accumulations.
• Characterize the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on multi-balloon array measurements.
• Correlate balloon-based X-ray bremsstrahlung measurements with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes.
• Study ULF-timescale magnetic field variations using the DC magnetometer data mentioned in the mission description.

Strengths

• Data spans four distinct campaigns from 2013 to 2016, providing multi-year coverage.
• Over 50 stratospheric balloon payloads were launched across the campaigns, offering spatial sampling.
• Measurements were coordinated with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground-based instruments like EISCAT.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Rate count values are uncalibrated and may wrap near or above 16384 counts/s, as noted in the description.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale statistical analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from rate counters on small stratospheric balloons carrying X-ray spectrometers and DC magnetometers.

Time Range

2013 to 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 13:14:50.309164; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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