FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 Radio Occultation Data Processing Status and Results

[Note: this is an invited paper for the Special Session on COSMIC-2.]

We present data processing center status and initial atmospheric retrieval results for the FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (COSMIC-2) mission. COSMIC-2 mission jointly managed by NOAA and Taiwan's National Space Organization (NSPO) and consists of six satellites launched on June 25, 2019 into a 24-degree inclination orbit with an initial ~720km altitude. The primary payload is the JPL developed Tri-GNSS Receiver System (TGRS). Tracking data from two upward looking precise orbit determination antennas are used for orbit and clock determination as well as ionospheric total electron content retrieval. Two limb-viewing radio occultation antennas provide more than 4000 daily profiles of the neutral atmosphere (e.g. bending angle, refractivity and temperature) from typically 80 km to 1 km above the Earth's surface. The secondary payloads are the Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) and tri-band Radio Frequency Beacon (RFB). The UCAR data processing center receives level-0 data from a set of downlink stations and processes them into higher level weather and space weather products in near real-time and post-processing modes. Products will be transferred to NOAA, NSPO, and operational weather centers worldwide following validation. In this presentation we summarize instrument status and review processing results from the checkout, commissioning, and cal/val phases of the mission. Results presented will include geographic coverage, precise orbit determination metrics, evaluations of radio occultation profiles from GPS and GLONASS, and product latency. We conclude with future activities and timelines.