BARREL 4A Rate Counter Diagnostics: 4-Second Accumulations from Balloon Campaigns

Antarctic and Arctic stratospheric balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016 collected this data. The BARREL mission, a NASA Living with a Star project, measured uncalibrated rate counter diagnostics as 4-second accumulations to study relativistic electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts. Over 50 small stratospheric balloons were launched across four campaigns.

Use Cases

• Study spatial and temporal variations of electron precipitation based on balloon-borne X-ray spectrometer measurements.
• Characterize the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation based on multi-balloon array observations.
• Correlate balloon diagnostic measurements with in-situ plasma wave and energetic particle data from other missions.
• Analyze ULF-timescale magnetic field variations based on DC magnetometer data mentioned in the mission description.

Strengths

• Data spans four distinct balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016.
• Over 50 stratospheric balloon payloads were launched, providing multiple observation points.
• Measurements were coordinated with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground/space-based instruments.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Rate count values wrap near or above 16384 counts/s, which may affect data interpretation.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from rate counters on BARREL mission stratospheric balloons.

Time Range

2013 to 2016

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 11:58:38.367200; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Antarctica (Halley Bay, SANAE IV base) and Arctic (Esrange Space Center, Kiruna, Sweden)