BARREL 2T: Balloon Ephemeris Data for Radiation Belt Electron Precipitation

Antarctic and Arctic stratospheric balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016 collected this dataset. It contains 4-second interval geographic and magnetic coordinates from over 50 balloon flights, derived from onboard GPS and the IRBEM library. The data was produced by NASA's BARREL mission to study relativistic electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts.

Use Cases

• Correlating electron precipitation events with magnetic local time based on the balloon array configuration described.
• Studying spatial scales of relativistic electron precipitation using multi-balloon constellation data.
• Modeling magnetic field variations using derived magnetic coordinates from the IRBEM library.
• Analyzing temporal patterns of precipitation with 4-second resolution time-series data.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 stratospheric balloon flights across four campaigns.
• Provides 4-second temporal resolution for balloon position and magnetic coordinates.
• Coordinates are derived from onboard GPS and the established IRBEM FORTRAN library.

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

Coordinates obtained from onboard GPS units on balloons; magnetic coordinates derived using the IRBEM library.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 12:47:54.499356; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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