The Continued Operation of COSMIC in Support of Operational and Research Applications for Years 2012-2015

该项目是气象学、电离层和气候星座观测系统(COSMIC)，涉及围绕全球定位系统(GPS)无线电掩星(RO)的大气测量概念的研究和数据管理活动，RO是一种相对较新的基于空间的主动肢体探测方法，用于测量大气温度、水蒸气、气压和高度的垂直剖面。基本测量是GPS无线电波在穿过地球带电大气，然后穿过中性大气的密度梯度时产生的弯曲和延迟造成的时间差。测量的优雅和简单与GPS刻意选择的无线电频率有关；当它们到达地球表面时，尽可能不受中间大气的影响，使它们全天候不受云层、气溶胶等的影响。这个更新项目建立并继续改进由NSF及其合作伙伴美国国家海洋和大气管理局、空军、NASA和海军支持的早期工作，费用由运营宇宙卫星的美国和台湾平分。自2006年4月发射以来，COSMIC为科学和业务使用提供了高质量的数据。UCAR宇宙数据分析和档案中心(CDAAC)目前每天生产1000至1500次全球定位系统(GPS)无线电掩星探测。COSMIC数据目前正在被包括NOAA国家环境预报中心(NCEP)在内的大多数全球数值天气预报(NWP)中心近乎实时地同化。自发射以来，该COSMIC系统已经产生了近300万条高质量的中性大气和电离层GPS RO剖面和许多其他有价值的数据产品。来自55个国家和地区的约1700名注册用户正在使用这些全球分布的高分辨率数据集来推动地球系统科学的发展，这些注册用户代表了美国和国际的主要大学、领先的运营气象中心、研究实验室和几家私人公司。正在开展的工作包括：(1)运行和维护CDAAC，用于数据处理、质量控制和传播；(2)通过加强GPS RO科学有效载荷固件和CDAAC软件处理算法，提高COSMIC数据产品的质量和数量；以及(3)运行COSMIC方案办公室，以支持国家和国际科学界。智力价值：该项目具有很高的智力价值，因为它操作、维护和改进了最先进的宇宙无线电掩星处理系统，该系统为研究和运营提供全球、连续和全天候的大气和电离层观测。COSMIC系统正在提供一个黄金标准的RO数据集。该项目将在系统操作、GPS信号跟踪、数据处理和反演技术方面带来尖端进展，以最大限度地发挥其对大气科学的研究价值。更广泛的影响：宇宙数据对大气科学的研究和业务有重大影响，因为它们的数量和质量、完整的全球和日间采样以及它们深入对流层低层的能力。宇宙数据具有高精度和精确度、高垂直分辨率、不需要卫星间交叉校准的事实，使它们非常适合于气候研究和仪器验证。COSMIC还为空间天气分析和预报以及其他电离层研究提供急需的电离层观测。该项目还有一个重要的教育和宣传部分。它将让研究生和本科生以及博士后研究员参与科学合作，并将继续组织科学讲习班，支持教育和培训活动。宇宙数据和处理软件将继续免费提供给广大大学和用户群体。除COSMIC外，这些活动还将对未来可持续发展任务的规划和执行产生积极影响。

This project, the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC), involves research and data management activities centered around an atmospheric measurement concept called Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO), a relatively new space based active limb sounding method for measuring vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature, water vapor, pressure and height. The fundamental measurement is a time difference caused by bending and delay of GPS radio waves as they propagate through the Earth's charged atmosphere and then through the density gradients of the neutral atmosphere. The elegance and simplicity of the measurement is related to the GPS's purposefully chosen radio frequencies; as unaffected as possible by the intervening atmosphere as they reach the Earth's surface, making them all weather, unaffected by clouds, aerosols, etc. This renewal project builds and continues to improve on earlier work supported by NSF and its partner U.S. agencies, NOAA, Air Force, NASA and Navy, with costs shared equally by the United States and Taiwan, which operate the COSMIC satellites.Since its launch in April 2006, COSMIC has provided high quality data for science and operational use. The UCAR COSMIC Data Analysis and Archive Center (CDAAC) is currently producing between 1,000 and 1,500 Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) soundings per day. COSMIC data are now being assimilated in near real-time by most global numerical weather prediction (NWP) centers, including the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP).Since its launch, the COSMIC system has produced close to 3 million high quality neutral atmospheric and ionospheric GPS RO profiles and many other valuable data products. These high resolution globally distributed data sets are being used to advance Earth system science by approximately 1,700 registered users from 55 countries, representing major U.S. and international universities, leading operational weather centers, research laboratories, and several private companies. The work being conducted includes: (i) operation and maintenance of the CDAAC for data processing, quality control, and dissemination; (ii) improvement of the quality and quantity of COSMIC data products by enhancing the GPS RO science payload firmware and CDAAC software processing algorithms; and, (iii) operation of the COSMIC Program Office to support the national and international science communities. Intellectual Merit: This project has high intellectual merit in that it operates, maintains and improves the state-of-the-art COSMIC radio occultation processing system that provides global, continuous, and all-weather observations of the atmosphere and ionosphere for research and operations. The COSMIC system is providing a gold-standard RO data set. This project will lead to cutting edge advances in system operation, GPS signal tracking, data processing, and inversion techniques to maximize its research value for the atmospheric sciences. Broader Impacts: The COSMIC data have significant impact on research and operations in the atmospheric sciences because of their quantity and quality, complete global and diurnal sampling, and their ability to penetrate deeply into the lower troposphere. The fact that the COSMIC data are of high precision and accuracy, high vertical resolution, and require no inter-satellite cross-calibration, makes them ideally suited for climate research and instrument validation. COSMIC also provides much-needed ionospheric observations for analysis and forecasting of space weather, and other ionospheric research. This project also has a significant education and outreach component. It will involve graduate and undergraduate students as well as postdoctoral fellows in scientific collaborations, and will continue to organize science workshops and support education and training activities. The COSMIC data and the processing software will continue to be made freely available to the broad university and user community. Beyond COSMIC, these activities will also have positive impacts on planning and execution of future RO missions.