67 research outputs found
Models for the atmosphere of Mars based on the Mariner IV occulation experiment Scientific report nos. 2 and 15
Mars atmospheric models based on Mariner IV OCCULTATION experimen
The atmosphere of Venus as studied with the Mariner 5 dual radio-frequency occultation experiment, part 1 Final report
Differential Doppler measurement analysis for Mariner 5 Venus occultation experimen
The bistatic radar-occultation method for the study of planetary atmospheres scientific report no. 5
Bistatic radar-occultation method for planetary atmosphere stud
The two-frequency, bistatic radar-occultation method for the study of planetary ionospheres scientific reports no. 1 and no. 7
Method for study of planetary ionospheres based on radio wave propagation between earth and spacecraf
Preliminary results of the Mariner IV radio occultation measurements of the upper atmosphere of Mars
Mariner IV radio occultation measurements of Mars upper atmospher
Preliminary results of the Mariner IV OCCULATION measurement of the atmosphere of Mars
Mariner IV radio occultation measurement of Mars atmospher
GPS radio occultation with GRACE: Atmospheric profiling utilizing the zero difference technique
Radio occultation events recorded on 28-29 July 2004 by a GPS receiver aboard
the GRACE-B satellite are analyzed. The stability of the receiver clock allows
for the derivation of excess phase profiles using a zero difference technique,
rendering the calibration procedure with concurrent observations of a reference
GPS satellite obsolete. 101 refractivity profiles obtained by zero differencing
and 96 profiles calculated with an improved single difference method are
compared with co-located ECMWF meteorological analyses. Good agreement is found
at altitudes between 5 and 30 km with an average fractional refractivity
deviation below 1% and a standard deviation of 2-3%. Results from end-to-end
simulations are consistent with these observations.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure
Global monitoring of tropospheric water vapor with GPS radio occultation aboard CHAMP
The paper deals with application of GPS radio occultation (RO) measurements
aboard CHAMP for the retrieval of tropospheric water vapor profiles. The GPS RO
technique provides a powerful tool for atmospheric sounding which requires no
calibration, is not affected by clouds, aerosols or precipitation, and provides
an almost uniform global coverage. We briefly overview data processing and
retrieval of vertical refractivity, temperature and water vapor profiles from
GPS RO observations. CHAMP RO data are available since 2001 with up to 200 high
resolution atmospheric profiles per day. Global validation of CHAMP water vapor
profiles with radiosonde data reveals a bias of about 0.2 g/kg and a standard
deviation of less than 1 g/kg specific humidity in the lower troposphere. We
demonstrate potentials of CHAMP RO retrievals for monitoring the mean
tropospheric water vapor distribution on a global scale.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Radio science measurements of atmospheric refractivity with Mars Global Surveyor
Radio occultation experiments with Mars Global Surveyor measure the refractive index of the Martian atmosphere from the surface to ~250 km in geopotential height. Refractivity is proportional to neutral density at low altitudes and electron density at high altitudes, with a transition at ~75 km. We use weighted least squares to decompose zonal refractivity variations into amplitudes and phases for observed wave numbers k=1-4 over the entire altitude range and use the results to analyze atmospheric structure and dynamics. The data set consists of 147 refractivity profiles acquired in December 2000 at summer solstice in the Martian northern hemisphere. The measurements are at an essentially fixed local time (sunrise) and at latitudes from 67deg to 70degN. Thermal tides appear to be responsible for much of the observed ionospheric structure from 80 to 220 km. Tides modulate the neutral density, which in turn, controls the height at which the ionosphere forms. The resulting longitude-dependent vertical displacement of the ionosphere generates distinctive structure in the fitted amplitudes, particularly at k=3, within plusmn50 km of the electron density peak height. Our k=3 observations are consistent with an eastward propagating semidiurnal tide with zonal wave number 1. Relative to previous results, our analysis extends the characterization of tides to altitudes well above and below the electron density peak. In the neutral atmosphere, refractivity variations from the surface to 50 km appear to arise from stationary Rossby waves. Upon examining the full vertical range, stationary waves appear to dominate altitudes below ~75 km, and thermal tides dominate altitudes above this transition region
Radio Science Investigation on a Mercury Orbiter Mission
We review the results from {\it Mariner 10} regarding Mercury's gravity field
and the results from radar ranging regarding topography. We discuss the
implications of improving these results, including a determination of the polar
component, as well as the opportunity to perform relativistic gravity tests
with a future {\it Mercury Orbiter}. With a spacecraft placed in orbit with
periherm at 400 km altitude, apherm at 16,800 km, period 13.45 hr and latitude
of periherm at +30 deg, one can expect a significant improvement in our
knowledge of Mercury's gravity field and geophysical properties. The 2000 Plus
mission that evolved during the European Space Agency (ESA) {\it Mercury
Orbiter} assessment study can provide a global gravity field complete through
the 25th degree and order in spherical harmonics. If after completion of the
main mission, the periherm could be lowered to 200 km altitude, the gravity
field could be extended to 50th degree and order. We discuss the possibility
that a search for a Hermean ionosphere could be performed during the mission
phases featuring Earth occultations.
Because of its relatively large eccentricity and close proximity to the Sun,
Mercury's orbital motion provides one of the best solar-system tests of general
relativity. Consequently, we emphasize the number of feasible relativistic
gravity tests that can be performed within the context of the parameterized
post-Newtonian formalism - a useful framework for testing modern gravitational
theories. We pointed out that current results on relativistic precession of
Mercury's perihelion are uncertain by 0.5 %, and we discuss the expected
improvement using {\it Mercury Orbiter}. We discuss the importance of {\it
Mercury Orbiter} for setting limits on a possible time variation in theComment: 23 pages, LaTeX, no figure
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