BARREL 2M: Balloon Ephemeris for Radiation Belt Electron Precipitation

BARREL 2M Ephemeris data provides geographic and magnetic coordinates from a NASA multi-balloon mission studying electron losses from Earth's radiation belts. Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched across campaigns in Antarctica (2013-2014) and Sweden (2015-2016), collecting 4-second interval data on position and altitude. The mission was designed to augment the Van Allen Probes mission by measuring relativistic electron precipitation from the stratosphere.

Use Cases

• Correlating electron precipitation timing with magnetic local time based on the balloon array design described.
• Mapping stratospheric balloon trajectories to radiation belt regions using the derived magnetic coordinates.
• Studying spatial scales of relativistic electron precipitation as characterized by the BARREL data.
• Coordinating multi-instrument analysis using data from campaigns aligned with Van Allen Probes and EISCAT radar.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four separate campaigns, providing multiple observational periods.
• Coordinates are recorded at a high temporal resolution of once every 4 seconds.
• Geographic data sourced from onboard GPS, and magnetic coordinates derived using the established IRBEM library.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Data returned from balloon payloads carrying GPS units and magnetometers, with magnetic coordinates derived using the IRBEM FORTRAN library.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13:07:43.641930; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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