This dataset is a compressed archive that includes 2 data files in binary format, 4 files in csv format, and 2 metadata files (pdf documents) that provide information on how to interpret the data. This data was collected from instruments deployed on two stratospheric balloons, launched a day apart in late June 2021 from central Oregon. They flew on upper level winds to the west, out over the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The measurement objective was a multi-day set of vertical electric field and polar conductivity measurements at roughly a 10 minute cadence, and from widely separated locations in the stratosphere. The binary format data is comprehensive, including everything that was measured. The csv files have been processed from the raw data files into calibrated, timed, and time-ordered ASCII files containing the primary science measurements and some essential auxiliary measurements such as measurement location and time. This data was collected in an effort to (1) compare the fair-weather return current density at different geographic locations and (2) to compare the fair-weather current density with global thunderstorm activity.

Data was collected from two balloons in the stratosphere, mostly over the Pacific ocean, via Iridium SBD modems included in each payload. Science instruments are vertical double Langmuir probes on booms attached to a central payload. This measurement technique has been in use for several decades. Both the raw and processed data are included in this archive. Accompanying documentation describes the unprocessed binary data and the ASCII files of processed data. The L1 (processed data) consists of time, location, vertical electric field, and polar conductivity measurements from the two balloon payloads.

The unprocessed L0 is in binary fixed format records, and requires programming effort to extract and interpret the data. The processed L1 data is in ASCII format, and requires no special software to interpret. The included documentation provides sufficient detail to interpret all of the data. The documentation includes information on the limitations of the data, such as the fact that sunlight increases the apparent positive ion conductivity through photo-electron emission.