Verification of Absolute Total Electron Content (TEC) from the FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 Tri-GNSS Radio Occultation System (TGRS)

Abstract:

FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (F7/C2) is a joint satellite program between the Taiwan and the United States governments that provides expanded neutral atmosphere and space weather data for operational and research communities. The six F7/C2 satellites were launched on June 25, 2019 as part of the United States Air Force Space Test Program-2 (STP-2) mission. The mission payload for each satellite is a Tri-GNSS Radio occultation System (TGRS) instrument, designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For space weather applications, the mission payload provides GNSS limb and overhead total electron content (TEC), electron density profiles, as well as both amplitude and phase scintillation. This presentation summarizes the challenges in the absolute TEC retrievals associated with the F7/C2 mission and demonstrates that TEC data quality collected from GPS signals meets the overall mission requirements of better than 3 TECU.