Investigation of methods for validation of ionospheric profiles from radio occultation

• Grant number: 22/14983-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 05, 2023
• End date: March 04, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geodesy
• Principal Investigator: Daniele Barroca Marra Alves
• Grantee: Raphael Silva Nespolo
• Supervisor: Manuel Hernández-Pajares
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 20/09443-6 - Visualization and analysis of GNSS radio occultation profiles, BP.IC

Abstract

The radio occultation (RO) technique allows the retrieval of atmospheric profiles, which can contribute to investigations of the Earth's atmosphere, including the detection of climate variations, monitoring of extreme events and numerical weather prediction. Initially RO was used for the exploration of the atmosphere of other planets. The development of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) and LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites enabled applications for the investigation of the Earth's atmosphere with the so-called GNSS-RO. Many researches have been developed for the assessment and validation of GNSS-RO data. However, the geometry involved, and the availability of reference data make this a challenging task. In this context, this project aims to investigate methods of evaluation ionospheric profiles from GNSS-RO and verify its application to a challenging scenario, the Brazilian region. Thus, the study should contribute to a better understanding of the Brazilian ionosphere and, consequently, the mitigation of its effects over GNSS signals. (AU)