BARREL 3F Ephemeris: Balloon Coordinates for Radiation Belt Precipitation Studies

The BARREL 3F Ephemeris dataset contains geographic and magnetic coordinate measurements collected during four balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016. Geographic coordinates were obtained from onboard GPS, while magnetic coordinates were derived using the IRBEM library. The data was produced by NASA to study electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts, with launches from Antarctica and Sweden.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial and temporal variations of electron precipitation based on balloon latitude, longitude, and altitude.
• Studying relativistic electron precipitation events based on X-ray spectrometer and magnetometer measurements.
• Mapping the spatial scale of precipitation at relativistic energies based on the constellation of balloon payloads.
• Correlating balloon observations with in-situ measurements from the Van Allen Probes mission.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 stratospheric balloon launches across four campaigns.
• Coordinates are recorded at a high temporal resolution of once every 4 seconds.
• Data was collected in coordination with major scientific missions like Van Allen Probes and EISCAT.

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, with magnetic coordinates derived using the IRBEM FORTRAN library.

Time Range

2013 to 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:33:44.775758; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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