COSMIC-2/FORMOSAT-7: Next Generation Radio Occultation Constellation for Weather, Climate and Space Weather Applications

The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate / FORMOSA Satellite 3 (COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3), a joint US/Taiwan mission launched in April 2006, is a six micro-satellite constellation carrying Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) receivers. The GPS RO dual-frequency L-band phase and amplitude measurements are used to observe bending angle and refractivity in the neutral atmosphere and absolute Total Electron Content (TEC) and electron density profiles in the ionosphere. The success of COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 has prompted U.S. agencies (led by NOAA) and Taiwan’s National Space Organization to execute a COSMIC follow-on operational mission called COSMIC-2/FORMOSAT-7 (hereafter referred to as COSMIC-2) that will put twelve satellites with GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) RO payloads into orbit on two launches in the 2017-20 time frame. The first launch in 2017 will place six satellites in a 520 km altitude 24 deg inclination orbit. The planned second launch (not currently funded) will place six additional satellites in a 750 km altitude 72 deg inclination orbit to provide global coverage and increased sampling density. COSMIC-2 will make use of an advanced radio occultation receiver with an innovative beam-forming antenna design, and is expected to produce at least 10,000 high-quality atmospheric and ionospheric profiles per day from GPS and GLONASS signals. COSMIC-2 products will support operational weather prediction, climate monitoring, and space weather forecasting. The operational COSMIC-2 Data Processing Center (DPC) at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Boulder will process raw COSMIC-2 data received from terrestrial downlink stations into Environmental Data Records (EDRs), and disseminate the EDRs to the operational and research communities in near real-time. This presentation will give an overview of GNSS RO technology, the COSMIC-2 mission, and the COSMIC-2 DPC including a brief description of processing algorithms and EDR products that will be distributed to the community.