BARREL 4B: Balloon Housekeeping Voltage, Temperature, Current, and Status

Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched across four campaigns from 2013 to 2016 in Antarctica and Sweden. The BARREL mission, a NASA Living with a Star Mission of Opportunity, measured electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts using X-ray spectrometers and magnetometers. This Level 2 dataset provides housekeeping voltage, temperature, current, and payload status values sampled every 40 seconds.

Use Cases

• Monitoring instrument health and performance based on voltage, temperature, and current readings.
• Analyzing temporal patterns of electron precipitation events based on payload status and correlated X-ray measurements.
• Studying spatial scales of relativistic electron precipitation using data from a distributed balloon array.
• Correlating balloon-based measurements with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes mission.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four separate campaigns.
• Provides measurements coordinated with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground/space instruments.
• Records housekeeping parameters at a consistent 40-second sampling interval.

Limitations

• Analog sensor data is based on a nominal layout; some payload differences may not be reflected.
• 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

Data collected by BARREL balloon payloads carrying X-ray spectrometers and DC magnetometers.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:33:18.830991; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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