Eighth FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC Data Users' Workshop, 30 September to 2 October 2014
Nicholas Michael Pedatella · Space Weather · 2015
The Eighth FORMOSAT-3/Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) Data Users' Workshop was held in Boulder, Colorado, from 30 September to 2 October 2014. Held roughly annually since 2006, with the location alternating between Boulder and Taiwan, the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC Data Users' Workshop aims to bring together the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) community and weather, climate, and space weather communities to enhance the use of past, present, and future RO missions. In addition to sessions focused on retrieval algorithms and the application of RO data for climate and tropospheric research and numerical weather prediction, specific sessions dedicated to the use of GNSS RO data for space weather took place during the Eighth FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC Data Users' Workshop. The diverse use of GNSS RO observations related to space weather was evident in the 15 oral and seven poster presentations focused on space weather that were given during the workshop. Nearly all of the presentations can be accessed at the workshop website (http://www.cosmic.ucar.edu/workshop_2014/presentations.html). The Radio Occultation Data Processing, Radio Occultation Data Applications for Ionosphere, and COSMIC-2 and Future Missions sessions had presentations relevant to space weather. In the Radio Occultation Data Processing session, Olga Verkhoglyadova (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)) and Zhen Zeng (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research COSMIC) discussed the impact of the ionosphere on data retrieval in the troposphere and stratosphere. Presentations in the Radio Occultation Data Applications for Ionosphere session included the application of FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC data for a wide range of space weather studies, including data assimilation, the study of geomagnetic activity effects at high latitudes, scintillation, and sporadic E layers. In the final session of the workshop, COSMIC-2 and Future Missions, Congliang Liu (Chinese Academy of Sciences) presented initial RO ionospheric retrievals from the Chinese Feng Yun-3 (FY-3) satellite, and Paul Straus (The Aerospace Corporation) gave an overview of the ionosphere observations that will be made from FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2. More detailed summaries of several presentations that may be of particular interest to the space weather community are provided below. Presentations by Anthony Mannucci (NASA JPL) and Yue Deng (University of Texas at Arlington) illustrated the use of FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC data for studying the influence of geomagnetic activity on the high-latitude ionosphere. Anthony Mannucci presented results demonstrating that FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC electron density profiles exhibit enhanced E region densities at high latitudes during geomagnetically active time periods. The results are consistent with enhanced E region ionization due to storm time particle precipitation. GNSS RO observations can therefore be considered as a potential new source for observing particle precipitation in the high-latitude ionosphere. The particle precipitation can modify the high-latitude ionospheric conductivity, and Yue Deng presented a statistical analysis of the use of FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC data to derive the E and F region Pedersen conductivities in the high-latitude ionosphere. Accurate specification of the Pedersen conductivity is important for determining the Joule heating input, which is an important driver of global changes in the thermosphere during geomagnetic storms. The results demonstrate an overall consistency between FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC derived Pedersen conductivities and values from the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE-GCM). However, the results revealed a general underestimation of the F region conductivity in the TIE-GCM, indicating a potential underestimation of the F region energy input into the model. The impact of GNSS RO data for ionosphere data assimilation was presented by Douglas Brinkman (The Aerospace Corporation). The inclusion of FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC RO observations in the Ionospheric Data Assimilation Four-Dimensional model was found to generally improve specification of the ionospheric state, with the most notable improvements, relative to assimilating ground-based GNSS observations, occurring on broad scales over the oceans. The results demonstrate that RO observations are an important data source for data assimilation models in order to accurately specify the global ionospheric electron density. The future use of FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 RO, as well as ion velocity meter, observations for space weather applications was summarized by Paul Strauss (The Aerospace Corporation). Highlights include the significantly enhanced spatial and temporal observation density, improved monitoring of scintillation, and measurements of ion composition and drifts (see Yue et al. [2014] for additional details on the FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 mission). It is anticipated that the FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 RO observations will considerably enhance the ongoing activities related to space weather research and applications that were presented during the workshop based on the current FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC RO observations. Nicholas Pedatella is a project scientist in the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate Program Office