The sensing of precipitable water (PW) using the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the near Tropics is investigated. GPS data acquired from the Central Weather Bureau's Taipei weather station in Banchao (Taipei), Taiwan, and each of nine International GPS Service (IGS) stations were utilized to determine independently the PW at the Taipei site from 18 to 24 March 1998. Baselines between Taipei and the other nine stations range from 676 to 3009 km. The PW determined from GPS observations for the nine baseline cases are compared with measurements by a dual-channel water vapor radiometer (WVR) and radiosondes at the Taipei site. Although previous results from other locations show that the variability in the rms difference between GPS-and WVRobserved PW ranges from 1 to 2 mm, a variability of 2.2 mm is found. The increase is consistent with scaling of the variability with the total water vapor burden (PW). In addition, accurate absolute PW estimates from GPS data for baseline lengths between 1500 and 3000 km were obtained. Previously, 500 and 2000 km have been recommended in the literature as the minimum baseline length needed for accurate absolute PW estimation. An exception occurs when GPS data acquired in Guam, one of the nine IGS stations, were utilized. This result is a possible further indication that the rms difference between GPS-and WVR-measured PW is dependent on the total water vapor burden, because both Taipei and Guam are located in more humid regions than the other stations.

[1] The noisy and impulsive fluctuations in the CHAMP radio occultation (RO) amplitude data are similar to the Ctype and S-type ionospheric amplitude scintillations formerly observed at 1.5 GHz in the mid-latitude region in satellite-to-Earth Inmarsat links. These amplitude scintillations can be associated with different types of ionospheric structures. S-type amplitude variations can be explained by the influence of inclined plasma layers in the ionosphere where the RO signal trajectory is perpendicular to the sharp plasma gradient. Simulation indicates the possibility to reveal the spatial distribution of the electron density in the inclined ionospheric layers from analysis of the S-type RO amplitude variations.

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The accuracy and feasibility of computing the zenith tropospheric delays (ZTDs) from data of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the United States National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) are studied. The ZTDs are calculated from ECMWF/NCEP pressure-level data by integration and from the surface data with the Saastamoinen model method and then compared with the solutions measured from 28 global positioning system (GPS) stations of the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) for 1 year. The results are as follows: (1) the error of the integration method is 1-3 cm less than that of the Saastamoinen model method. The agreement between the ECMWF ZTD and GPS ZTD is better than that between NCEP ZTD and GPS ZTD; (2) the bias and root mean square difference (RMSD), especially the latter, have a seasonal variation, and the RMSD decreases with increasing altitude while the variation with latitude is not obvious; and (3) when using the full horizontal resolution of 0.5°9 0.5°of the ECMWF meteorological data in place of a reduced 2.5°9 2.5°grid, the mean RMSD between GPS and ECMWF ZTD decreases by 4.5 mm. These results illuminated the accuracy and feasibility of computing the tropospheric delays and establishing the ZTD prediction model over China for navigation and positioning with ECMWF and NCEP data.Keywords GPS Á Zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) Á CMONOC Á ECMWF Á NCEP Abbreviations CMONOCThe crustal movement observation network of China CDAS Climate data assimilation system ECMWF

[1] We analyze the ionospheric effect on the phase and amplitude of radio occultation (RO) signal. The introduced theoretical model predicts a correlation between the phase acceleration and intensity variations of RO signal and opens a way to locate layered structures in the propagation medium, in particular, in trans-ionospheric satellite-to-satellite links. For considered CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) RO events, the locations of the inclined plasma layers in the lower ionosphere are estimated, and the electron density distribution is retrieved. By analysis of the CHAMP RO data, we reveal the dependence of the intensity variations of RO signal on sharp changes in the DST index and on the local time. Maps of the seasonal, geographical, and temporal distributions of the CHAMP RO events with amplitude scintillations, having high S 4 index values, and observed during the years 2001-2004 indicate dependence on solar activity. As follows from this analysis, the GPS signals in the trans-ionospheric links can be used for investigating the location and parameters of inclined plasma layers and monitoring the influence of solar activity on the ionosphere with global coverage.

The FORMOSA Satellite Series No. 3/Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC) spacecraft constellation consisting of six low-earth-orbiting satellites is the world's first operational Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation mission. The mission has been jointly developed by the National Space Organization of Taiwan and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research of the U.S. in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, and the Naval Research Laboratory for three onboard payloads, including a GPS Occultation Receiver, a triband beacon, and a tiny ionospheric photometer. The FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC mission was successfully launched from Vandenberg into the same orbit plane of the designated 516-km circular parking orbit altitude on April 15, 2006. After the six satellites completed the in-orbit checkout activities, the mission was started immediately at the parking orbit for in-orbit checkout, calibration, and experiment of three onboard payloads. Individual spacecraft thrust burns for orbit raising were performed to begin the constellation deployment of the satellites into six separate orbit planes. All six FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites are maintained in a good state of health except spacecraft flight model no. 2, which has had power shortages. Five out of the six satellites had reached their final mission orbits of 800 km as of November 2007. This paper provides an overview of the constellation spacecraft design, constellation mission operations, constellation deployment timeline evolution, associated spacecraft mass property and moment of inertia results, orbit-raising challenges, and lessons learned during the orbit-raising operations.

It is shown that the refractivity and temperature vertical gradients may be retrieved using radio occultation (RO) amplitude data only. For the considered RO events the vertical gradient of refractivity found from the amplitude data shows good correspondence at two frequencies and changes in interval ±2–±5 N‐units/km (between heights 5–10 km) up to ±1–±2 N‐units/km (between heights 12–21 km). The corresponding magnitudes of temperature gradient change from negative values 4– 9°K/km at the height 8–14 km to positive 1–3 °K/km above 20.5 km. Sharp changes of temperature gradient ±6–±9 °K/km are found in the tropopause at the heights between 14–20 km. The height of the equatorial tropopause is found to be equal 16.8 km in correspondence with UCAR data. The vertical gradient of electron density in the sporadic E‐layer of the ionosphere has been retrieved from the same RO event. Two maximum values of the positive gradient of about 29·109 and 28·109 [m−3km−1] are located at heights 93.5 and 99 km. Simultaneous observations of the vertical gradients of refractivity in the atmosphere and ionosphere would be useful to investigate connections between meteorological and space weather phenomena.

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