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COSMIC-2 Radio Occultation Constellation-First Results
  • +12
  • William S. Schreiner,
  • Jan Weiss,
  • Richard A. Anthes,
  • John J. Braun,
  • Vicky Chu,
  • Joe Fong,
  • Douglas Hunt,
  • Ying-Hwa Kuo,
  • Thomas K. Meehan,
  • Wei Xia-Serafino,
  • Jeremiah P Sjoberg,
  • Sergey Sokolovskiy,
  • Elsayed Talaat,
  • Tae-Kwon Wee,
  • Zhen Zeng
William S. Schreiner
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
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Jan Weiss
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
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Richard A. Anthes
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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John J. Braun
Univ Corp for Atmospheric Res. (UCAR)
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Vicky Chu
National Space Organization
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Joe Fong
National Space Organization
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Douglas Hunt
National Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
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Ying-Hwa Kuo
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
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Thomas K. Meehan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Wei Xia-Serafino
NOAA
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Jeremiah P Sjoberg
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
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Sergey Sokolovskiy
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
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Elsayed Talaat
NOAA NESDIS
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Tae-Kwon Wee
National Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
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Zhen Zeng
National Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
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Abstract

Initial data from the Formosa Satellite-7/Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2, hereafter C2), a recently launched Equatorial constellation of six satellites carrying advanced radio occultation receivers, exhibit high signal-to-noise ratio, precision, and accuracy, and the ability to provide high-vertical-resolution information on temperature and water vapor in the challenging tropical atmosphere. After an initial calibration/validation phase, over 100,000 soundings of bending angles and refractivity that passed quality control in October 2019 are compared with independent data, including radiosondes, model forecasts, and analyses. The comparisons show that C2 data meet expectations of high accuracy, precision, and capability to detect super-refraction. When fully operational, the C2 satellites are expected to produce ~5,000 soundings per day, providing freely available observations that will enable improved forecasts of weather, including tropical cyclones, and weather, space weather, and climate research.
28 Feb 2020Published in Geophysical Research Letters volume 47 issue 4. 10.1029/2019GL086841