Radio Occultation (RO) Effective Coverage/Refresh Assessment for Low Latitude Ionospheric Scintillation Monitoring

The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC-2) program has demonstrated a near-real time capability for monitoring ionospheric scintillation. However, the sensitivity of individual RO events to ionospheric irregularities depends on highly variable RO geometry and its relationship to the earth’s magnetic field that guides irregularity formation and extent. Initial studies of effective COSMIC-2 coverage and refresh indicate that simple theoretical models may significantly over-estimate performance. We describe a more detailed analysis approach to investigate the reasons behind this disconnect. These studies are important because a good understanding of RO system coverage/refresh performance is critical to the design of future RO sensing systems.