BARREL 4F Rate Counter: Balloon-Based Radiation Belt Electron Precipitation, 4 s Data

Antarctic and Arctic stratospheric balloon campaigns from 2013 to 2016 collected this data. The dataset contains 4-second accumulations of rate counter measurements from NaI scintillator diagnostics, part of NASA's BARREL mission to study electron losses from Earth's radiation belts. Over 50 small stratospheric balloons were launched across four campaigns in coordination with the Van Allen Probes mission.

Use Cases

• Analyzing temporal variations in electron precipitation based on 4-second rate count accumulations
• Characterizing the spatial scale of relativistic energy precipitation based on multi-balloon constellation data
• Correlating balloon-based X-ray measurements with in-situ plasma wave and particle data from the Van Allen Probes
• Studying ULF-timescale magnetic field variations using the DC magnetometer data mentioned in the mission description

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 stratospheric balloon launches across four campaigns
• Measurements coordinated with the comprehensive Van Allen Probes in-situ mission
• Observations from both Antarctic and Arctic regions provide broad latitudinal coverage

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Rate count values are uncalibrated and have a wrap near or above 16384 counts/s

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements from rate counters on BARREL mission stratospheric balloons carrying X-ray spectrometers and DC magnetometers.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 11:30:13.178700; freshness should be verified

Geography

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