BARREL 3C Rate Counter: Electron Precipitation Diagnostics from Balloon Campaigns

Antarctic and Swedish balloon campaigns collected measurements of electron losses from Earth's Radiation Belts. The BARREL mission launched over 50 stratospheric balloons between 2013 and 2016, providing diagnostic rate count data in 4-second accumulations. NASA's Living with a Star Mission of Opportunity designed BARREL to augment the Van Allen Probes mission.

Use Cases

• Study electron precipitation spatial scales based on balloon array measurements across magnetic local time
• Analyze relativistic electron precipitation events based on bremsstrahlung X-ray measurements
• Correlate balloon-based precipitation diagnostics with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes
• Investigate ULF-timescale magnetic field variations based on DC magnetometer data
• Characterize precipitation event timing and duration based on 4-second rate count accumulations

Strengths

• Data spans four distinct balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016
• Over 50 stratospheric balloon launches provide a multi-year observational record
• Campaigns were coordinated with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground/space instruments

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Rate count data are diagnostic and have uncalibrated energy ranges

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from rate counters carried on stratospheric balloons

Time Range

2013 to 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:36:03.445377; freshness should be verified

Geography

Antarctic (Halley Bay, SANAE IV) and Swedish (Kiruna) launch sites