BARREL 3B: Bremsstrahlung X-ray Spectra from Balloon Campaigns

The BARREL mission collected data from balloon campaigns conducted in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. It provides 256-channel slow time resolution (32 s) Bremsstrahlung X-ray spectra from NaI scintillators, covering an energy range from 0 MeV to 10 MeV. The data was collected by NASA to study electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts.

Use Cases

• Studying electron precipitation losses from radiation belts based on Bremsstrahlung X-ray spectra.
• Characterizing the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on balloon array measurements.
• Correlating precipitation events with ULF magnetic field variations based on concurrent magnetometer data.
• Analyzing temporal variations in electron precipitation based on 32-second time resolution spectra.

Strengths

• Data spans four distinct campaigns from 2013 to 2016.
• Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched across the campaigns.
• Spectra cover a nominal energy range from 0 MeV to 10 MeV across 256 channels.

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 and DC magnetometers carried on stratospheric balloons.

Time Range

2013-2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:36:34.057455; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Launch sites in Antarctica (Halley Bay, SANAE IV) and Sweden (Esrange Space Center, Kiruna).