Examination of the Weddell Sea Anomaly in Radio Occultation data from Spire.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/ National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) constellations such as Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate-1 (COSMIC-1) and Formosa Satellite 3 (FORMOSAT-3) and COSMIC-2/FORMOSAT-7 provide operational radio occultations (RO) data. The data acquired from these satellites enables the derivation of the electron density profiles and global maps of electron content within the ionosphere. Estimates on the ionosphere’s electron content are essential for high-frequency radio operators, aviation, satellite operations, navigation and over the horizon radar operators. Currently, COSMIC-2/FORMOSAT-7 provide low-latitude operational RO data, and commercial data from a private vendor could complement the dataset by providing high-latitude data.

The Promoting Research and Observations of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow (PROSWIFT) Act of 2020, set forth provisions to improve the nation’s ability to forecast and mitigate effects of space weather. PROSWIFT authorizes NOAA to engage the commercial sector specifically to provide space weather data that meets NOAA’s standards.

Stood up in 2016, NOAA/NESDIS' Commercial Data Program (CDP) includes Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) studies. NOAA uses the pilots to evaluate and demonstrate the quality and impact of commercial data on weather forecast models and other systems. In 2022, CDP awarded 1-year Space Weather (SpWx) pilot projects to Space Sciences and Engineering LLC (PlanetIQ), Spire Global Subsidiary Inc., and GeoOptics Inc. Commercial vendors delivered near real-time radio occultation measurements of the ionosphere from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. While commercial near real-time data are necessary to address NOAA's operational requirements, the datasets can also be used for science investigations by the research community. In this study, SWO analyzed data acquired as part of the SpWx pilot project from November 1st, 2022 to April 30th, 2023. In this poster, we present preliminary results of the Weddell Sea Anomaly (WSA) observed in the SPIRE RO dataset. Preliminary results indicate elevated NmF2 values during the local nighttime (~ 0 - 4 local time), compared to the daytime (~6 - 20 local time). Commercial data procured by the NESDIS CWDP program are available to the research community, allowing the program to function as a new data source for science investigations of interests to the research community.