BARREL 3G: Balloon Housekeeping Voltage, Temperature, Current, and Status Data

Housekeeping voltage, temperature, current, and payload status values recorded every 40 seconds by the BARREL (Balloon Array for Radiation Belt Relativistic Electron Losses) mission. The data was collected from over 50 stratospheric balloon flights launched from Antarctica and Sweden across campaigns in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. The mission was a NASA Living with a Star investigation designed to study electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts.

Use Cases

• Correlating electron precipitation events with in-situ satellite measurements based on the mission's design to augment the Van Allen Probes.
• Analyzing the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on the balloon array's magnetic local time coverage.
• Studying ULF-timescale magnetic field variations using the DC magnetometer data mentioned in the description.
• Monitoring instrument health and environmental conditions during balloon flights based on the housekeeping voltage, temperature, and current data.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four separate campaigns, providing multiple observational periods.
• Time-series data recorded at a consistent 40-second interval.
• Mission was a coordinated NASA Living with a Star investigation, designed to complement the Van Allen Probes mission.

Limitations

• Analog sensor data is based on a nominal layout; some payload differences may not be reflected, requiring clarification from the BARREL team for questionable data.
• 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

Collected by instruments on stratospheric balloons launched from Antarctica and Sweden.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 12:06:06.819544; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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