BARREL 2O: Bremsstrahlung X-ray Spectra from Stratospheric Balloons

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 X-ray spectrometers. The dataset provides six channels of fast time resolution (50 ms) Bremsstrahlung X-ray spectra from 0 MeV to 1.5 MeV.

Use Cases

• Correlating electron precipitation events with in-situ plasma wave measurements based on the mission's coordination with Van Allen Probes
• Analyzing the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on the balloon array's magnetic local time coverage
• Studying temporal variations of Bremsstrahlung X-ray spectra based on the six fast time resolution channels (FSPC1a-FSPC4)
• Characterizing electron precipitation near the Antarctic and Arctic circles based on the balloon launch locations

Strengths

• Provides the first balloon measurements of relativistic electron precipitation alongside comprehensive in-situ measurements
• Data collected from over 50 stratospheric balloon flights across four campaigns
• Six channels of fast time resolution (50 ms) spectra covering an energy range from 0 MeV to 1.5 MeV

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

Measured by X-ray spectrometers carried on stratospheric balloons.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:43:59.111701; freshness should be verified

Geography

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