BARREL 4H Ephemeris: Balloon GPS and Magnetic Coordinates at 4-Second Intervals

BARREL 4H Ephemeris Level 2 data provides geographic and magnetic coordinates from a NASA balloon mission. The dataset includes balloon epoch time, latitude, longitude, and altitude recorded every 4 seconds from over 50 stratospheric balloon flights launched between 2013 and 2016 from Antarctica and Sweden. Geographic coordinates were obtained from onboard GPS, while magnetic coordinates were derived using the IRBEM library.

Use Cases

• Mapping relativistic electron precipitation events based on balloon-measured X-ray bremsstrahlung and magnetic field data.
• Analyzing spatial and temporal variations in the radiation belts based on the multi-balloon array data collected across magnetic local time.
• Correlating stratospheric balloon observations with in-situ satellite measurements of plasma waves and energetic particles.
• Characterizing the spatial scale of precipitation at relativistic energies based on the balloon constellation data.

Strengths

• Data collected from over 50 balloon flights across four campaigns, providing a substantial observational record.
• Coordinates are recorded at a high temporal resolution of once every 4 seconds.
• Data is derived from a NASA Living with a Star mission, coordinated with the Van Allen Probes and other instruments.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Data files are in specialized formats (BIN, PDF, TEXT, HTML), which may require specific tools for processing.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Coordinates obtained from onboard GPS units on stratospheric balloons; magnetic coordinates derived using the IRBEM FORTRAN library.

Time Range

Balloon campaigns conducted in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 11:21:27.654000; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Launches from Halley Bay and SANAE IV base in Antarctica (2013-2014) and Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden (2015-2016); observations near Antarctic and Arctic circles at stratospheric altitudes (~30 km).