Abstract

The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) is scheduled for launch by the end of 2005. COSMIC will consist of six low earth orbiting satellites in planes separated by 24 degrees to provide global atmospheric and ionospheric observations. One of the goals ... Show moreThe Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) is scheduled for launch by the end of 2005. COSMIC will consist of six low earth orbiting satellites in planes separated by 24 degrees to provide global atmospheric and ionospheric observations. One of the goals is to demonstrate near real-time processing of data products for numerical weather prediction and space weather applications. Each COSMIC satellite will carry three payloads: (1) a GPS occultation receiver with two high-gain limb viewing antennas and two antennas for precision orbit determination, (2) a Tiny Ionospheric Photometer (TIP) for monitoring the electron density via nadir radiance measurements along the sub-satellite track, and (3) a Tri-Band Beacon (TBB) transmitter for ionospheric tomography and scintillation studies. The data from all these payloads will be processed at the COSMIC Data Analysis and Archival Center (CDAAC). Here we give an overview of the ionospheric data products from COSMIC and focus on the plans and preliminary simulation studies for analyzing the ionospheric occultation data and combining them with ground-based GPS, TIP, and TBB observations. Show less