Impact of extreme events on atmospheric profiles from GNSS radio occultation

• Grant number: 23/15278-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geodesy
• Principal Investigator: Daniele Barroca Marra Alves
• Grantee: Raphael Silva Nespolo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The radio occultation (RO) technique is related to the occultation of two satellites by the Earth, one of them being the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellite, responsible for emission of the signal, and the other, the LEO (Low Earth Orbiting) satellite, capable of receiving this signal that suffers the effects of the atmosphere (neutral and ionized) when crossing it. From this interaction it is possible to obtain refractive indices of the atmosphere and, from these, extract atmospheric profiles, such as humidity, pressure, temperature and electron density. The potential of RO is of great interest for areas such as Meteorology and Geodesy, since unlike conventional techniques, this technique guarantees the retrieval of information from the atmosphere in a homogeneous way, including remote and difficult to access regions, which enables the study of climate variations, numerical weather forecasting and extreme events. In this context, the present project aims to investigate the possibility of using data from this technique to study extreme climatic and meteorological events, such as volcanic eruptions, tropical cyclones, among others, as well as observing which atmospheric changes can be identified. For the development of the methodology, experiments should be realized to analyze the behavior of atmospheric profiles close to the occurrence of an extreme event.