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Instrument details
Acronym
GOLPE
Full name
GPS Occultation and Passive reflection Experiment
Purpose
Temperature/humidity sounding with highest vertical resolution; also space weather
Short description
Measuring the phase delay due to refraction during occultation between GPS and LEO
Background
Consolidated technology (adaptation of the NASA/JPL BlackJack)
Scanning Technique
Limb scanning from the satellite altitude to close-to-surface by time sampling. Azimuth: 70° sectors, aft- and fore-
Resolution
About 300 km horizontal, 0.5 km vertical
Coverage / Cycle
1 GNSS constellation tracked. About 500 soundings/day - Average spacing 1000 km - Global coverage (300 km spacing) in 10 days
Mass
3.2 kg
Power
15 W
Data Rate
17 kbps
Providing Agency
NASA
Instrument Maturity
Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period:
2001 to 2013-08-15
Last update:
2019-01-01
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on
Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a
green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates
future satellites
Instrument classification
Earth observation instrument Active and radio-occultation sensor GNSS radio-occultation
WIGOS Subcomponents
No WIGOS subcomponents have been defined.
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives Atmospheric temperature Height of the top of PBL Height of the tropopause Specific humidity Temperature of the tropopause
Secondary mission objectives Atmospheric density Electron Density Ionospheric Scintillation Ionospheric Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) Opportunity objectives Show all Show fewer
Tentative Evaluation of Measurements
The following list indicates which measurements can typically be
retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable,
click on the respective variable.
Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Variable Relevance for measuring this variable Operational limitations Explanation
Atmospheric temperature 3 - high Inaccurate in low troposphere. Two directional antennas, one GNSS system tracked, covering about 500 soundings/day
Geoid 4 - fair Highly indirect. Radio-occultation processing implies precise orbitography. Geoid derived from multi-temporal analysis
Gravity field 5 - marginal Highly indirect. Radio-occultation processing implies precise orbitography. Gravity field derived from multi-temporal analysis
Height of the top of PBL 3 - high No specific limitation. Two directional antennas, one GNSS system tracked, about 500 soundings/day. PBL top measured as discontinuity of the refraction index
Height of the tropopause 3 - high No specific limitation. Two directional antennas, one GNSS system tracked, about 500 soundings/day. Tropopause height measured as discontinuity of the refraction index
Specific humidity 3 - high Inaccurate in high troposphere. Two directional antennas, one GNSS system tracked, about 500 soundings/day
Temperature of the tropopause 3 - high No specific limitation. Two directional antennas, one GNSS system tracked, about 500 soundings/day
Atmospheric density 1 - primary No specific limitation. Measuring atmospheric density
Electron Density 1 - primary No specific limitation. Two directional antennas, one GNSS system tracked, about 500 soundings/day
Ionospheric Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) 3 - high No specific limitation. Two directional antennas, one GNSS system tracked, about 500 soundings/day
Ionospheric Scintillation 4 - fair No specific limitation. Two directional antennas, one GNSS system tracked, about 500 soundings/day
Instrument: GOLPE