Radio occultation (RO) is a

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring information about Earth ...

technique used for measuring the physical properties of a planetary

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

ring system A ring system is a disc or ring, orbiting an astronomical object, that is composed of solid material such as dust and moonlets, and is a common component of satellite systems around giant planets. A ring system around a planet is also known as ...

Atmospheric radio occultation

Atmospheric radio occultation relies on the detection of a change in a radio signal as it passes through a planet's atmosphere, i.e. as it is occulted by the atmosphere. When

electromagnetic radiation In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic field, electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, inf ...

passes through the atmosphere, it is refracted (or bent). The magnitude of the

refraction In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomeno ...

depends on the gradient of refractivity normal to the path, which in turn depends on the density gradient. The effect is most pronounced when the radiation traverses a long atmospheric limb path. At radio frequencies the amount of bending cannot be measured directly; instead the bending can be calculated using the

Doppler shift The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who d ...

of the signal given the geometry of the emitter and receiver. The amount of bending can be related to the refractive index by using an

Abel transform In mathematics, the Abel transform,N. H. Abel, Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik, 1, pp. 153–157 (1826). named for Niels Henrik Abel, is an integral transform often used in the analysis of spherically symmetric or axially symmetri ...

on the formula relating bending angle to refractivity. In the case of the neutral atmosphere (below the ionosphere) information on the atmosphere's

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

pressure Pressure (symbol: ''p'' or ''P'') is the force applied perpendicular to the surface of an object per unit area over which that force is distributed. Gauge pressure (also spelled ''gage'' pressure)The preferred spelling varies by country and e ...

and water vapour content can be derived giving radio occultation data applications in

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

GNSS radio occultation

GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO), historically also known as GPS radio occultation (GPS-RO or GPSRO), is a type of radio occultation that relies on radio transmissions from GPS (

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

), or more generally from GNSS (

Global Navigation Satellite System A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pr ...

), satellites. This is a relatively new technique (first applied in 1995) for performing atmospheric measurements. It is used as a

weather forecasting Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia a ...

tool, and could also be harnessed in monitoring

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. The technique involves a low-Earth-orbit satellite receiving a signal from a

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

satellite. The signal has to pass through the atmosphere and gets

refracted In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomeno ...

along the way. The magnitude of the refraction depends on the temperature and water vapor concentration in the atmosphere. GNSS radio occultation amounts to an almost instantaneous depiction of the atmospheric state. The relative position between the

satellite and the low-Earth-orbit satellite changes over time, allowing for a vertical scanning of successive layers of the atmosphere. GPSRO observations can also be conducted from aircraft or on high mountaintops.

Planetary satellite missions

Current missions include REX on

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research ...

.http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Mission/Spacecraft/Payload.php

Satellite missions

CLARREO CLARREO (Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory) is a high-priority NASA decadal survey mission, originally selected as such by the National Research Council in 2007.National Research Council, Earth Science and Applications from Spa ...

* Microlab 1 * FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC *

FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 COSMIC-2 also known as FORMOSAT-7, is the constellation of satellites for meteorology, ionosphere, climatology, and space weather research. FORMOSAT-7 is a joint US-Taiwanese project including National Space Organization (NSPO) on the Taiwanese ...

* CHAMP *

GRACE Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

Oceansat Oceansat is a series of earth observation satellites built, launched, and operated by Indian Space Research Organisation, and dedicated to oceanography and atmospheric studies. Oceansat satellites facilitate a range of applications including ...

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich (S6MF) is a radar altimeter satellite developed in partnership between several European and American organizations. It is part of the Jason satellite series and is named after Michael Freilich. S6MF includes s ...

* GRAS sensor onboard

MetOp Metop (Meteorological Operational satellite) is a series of three polar-orbiting meteorological satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites ...

satellite *

Spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

LEMUR cubesats

References

External links