BARREL 3B Ephemeris: Balloon GPS and Magnetic Coordinates at 4-Second Intervals

Over 50 stratospheric balloon flights collected 4-second interval GPS ephemeris and derived magnetic coordinates during campaigns from 2013 to 2016. The BARREL mission, a NASA Living with a Star project, measured electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts using X-ray spectrometers and magnetometers. Observations were conducted from Antarctic and Swedish launch sites to coordinate with the Van Allen Probes mission.

Use Cases

• Correlating electron precipitation events with satellite measurements based on the coordinated Van Allen Probes mission data mentioned in the description
• Analyzing spatial and temporal scales of relativistic electron precipitation based on the balloon array's magnetic local time coverage
• Modeling magnetic field variations using derived magnetic coordinates calculated with the IRBEM library
• Studying stratospheric atmospheric conditions at ~30 km altitude based on the balloon's geographic coordinate time series

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns, providing multiple observational periods
• Coordinates are recorded at a high 4-second temporal resolution, allowing for detailed trajectory analysis
• Data is derived from onboard GPS units and a standardized magnetic modeling library (IRBEM)

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 ML tasks

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measured by onboard GPS and magnetometer instruments on stratospheric balloons, with magnetic coordinates derived using the IRBEM FORTRAN library.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 12:21:46.051031; freshness should be verified

Geography

Balloons launched from Halley Bay and SANAE IV base in Antarctica (2013-2014) and Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden (2015-2016), flying at stratospheric altitudes (~30 km).