BARREL 4G Ephemeris: Balloon GPS and Magnetic Coordinates

NASA's BARREL mission launched over 50 stratospheric balloons to study electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts. Geographic coordinates from onboard GPS and derived magnetic coordinates were recorded every 4 seconds during campaigns in Antarctica (2013-2014) and Sweden (2015-2016). The data was collected to augment the Van Allen Probes mission and characterize relativistic electron precipitation.

Use Cases

• Mapping balloon trajectories in the stratosphere based on GPS-derived geographic coordinates
• Studying electron precipitation from radiation belts based on X-ray spectrometer measurements mentioned in the description
• Analyzing magnetic field variations on ULF timescales based on DC magnetometer data
• Correlating balloon observations with in-situ satellite measurements from the Van Allen Probes mission
• Characterizing the spatial scale of relativistic electron precipitation events

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon launches across four campaigns
• Coordinates recorded at a high temporal resolution of 4 seconds
• Mission designed in coordination with the Van Allen Probes satellite mission and other ground-based instruments

Limitations

• 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

Coordinates obtained from onboard GPS units and derived using the IRBEM FORTRAN library.

Time Range

Campaigns conducted in January-February 2013, 2014, August 2015, and August 2016.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:32:28.183646; freshness should be verified

Geography

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