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

BARREL 2O Tri-axial Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAGN) Magnetic Field Data provides three-axis DC magnetometer measurements from stratospheric balloons. The data are at Level 2 with 0.25-second resolution, have nominal conversions applied, but are not gain-corrected or despun. The dataset was produced by NASA as part of the BARREL mission, which launched over 50 balloons across campaigns in Antarctica (2013-2014) and Sweden (2015-2016) to study electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ultra-low frequency (ULF) magnetic field variations based on tri-axial DC magnetometer measurements.
• Correlating balloon-based magnetic field data with in-situ satellite measurements from missions like the Van Allen Probes.
• Studying the spatial and temporal scale of relativistic electron precipitation events mentioned in the mission description.
• Investigating magnetospheric dynamics by using balloon constellation data spread across magnetic local time.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 stratospheric balloon flights across four campaigns, providing extensive spatial and temporal coverage.
• Measurements were coordinated with multiple satellite missions and ground-based instruments, enabling multi-instrument studies.
• Provides high-resolution (0.25-second) time-series data of the magnetic field.

Limitations

• Data are not gain-corrected or despun, which may require additional processing for certain analyses.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and exact file sizes are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measured by tri-axial fluxgate magnetometers carried on small stratospheric balloons.

Time Range

Campaigns conducted in January-February 2013, 2014 (Antarctica) and August 2015, 2016 (Sweden).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 13:02:33.217079; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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