BARREL 3C Magnetometer Data: Tri-axial Magnetic Field Measurements from Balloon Campaigns

Tri-axial DC magnetometer data from the BARREL balloon mission, designed to study electron losses from Earth's radiation belts. The dataset includes over 50 stratospheric balloon flights launched from Antarctica and Sweden between 2013 and 2016. Data are provided at 0.25-second resolution with nominal conversions applied but are not gain-corrected or despun.

Use Cases

• Analyzing ULF-timescale magnetic field variations based on tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer measurements.
• Studying spatial and temporal patterns of relativistic electron precipitation by correlating with X-ray spectrometer data mentioned in the description.
• Characterizing the spatial scale of electron precipitation at relativistic energies using multi-balloon constellation data.
• Coordinating multi-instrument studies by integrating with Van Allen Probes and ground-based radar data as described.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 stratospheric balloon flights across four campaigns (2013-2016).
• Measurements taken at stratospheric altitudes (~30 km) near Antarctic and Arctic circles.
• Time-series data provided at a high temporal resolution of 0.25 seconds.

Limitations

• Data are neither gain-corrected nor despun, which may require additional processing for some analyses.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total data volume are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Measured by DC magnetometers carried on small stratospheric balloons launched during the BARREL mission.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 13 12:15:39.012426; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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