BARREL 4E Rate Counter: NaI Scintillator Diagnostics, 4 s Accumulations

BARREL balloon campaigns collected diagnostic rate counter measurements from stratospheric altitudes near 30 km. The data consists of 4-second accumulations of counts from NaI scintillator instruments, with campaigns conducted in Antarctica during 2013-2014 and in Sweden during 2015-2016. Over 50 stratospheric balloons were launched across four campaigns by NASA as part of the Living with a Star program.

Use Cases

• Analyze electron precipitation rates based on 4-second count accumulations.
• Study spatial and temporal variations of relativistic electron precipitation based on balloon constellation data.
• Correlate balloon-based X-ray measurements with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes.
• Characterize the spatial scale of precipitation at relativistic energies based on multi-balloon array observations.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 stratospheric balloon flights across four campaigns.
• Provides first balloon measurements of relativistic electron precipitation alongside comprehensive in-situ satellite data.
• Campaigns were coordinated with the Van Allen Probes mission and other ground/space instruments.

Limitations

• Rate count data are diagnostic fields with uncalibrated energy ranges.
• 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

Measurements from rate counters on BARREL balloon payloads.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:32:44.774397; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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