Session
Technical Session I: Mission Metrics
Abstract
The CICERO Project will deploy a constellation of 100 small (~30kg) 3-axis stabilized remote sensing satellites that produce atmospheric temperature, pressure and moisture profiles and ionospheric electron density profiles worldwide, along with a host of derived products. This remote sensing satellite system will supply high fidelity real-time weather and climate data to the meteorology industry. This dataset is essentially a ‘finite element dataset’ of the entire Earth’s atmospheric and ionospheric conditions. This international mission establishes a model of private space development for the public good that changes the way we collect and disseminate Earth observational data. The CICERO Project inaugurates this model with an evolved third generation technique for weather and climate sensing known as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation, or GNSS-RO. This method not only enables large improvements in weather and storm path predictions, but is becoming the definitive standard in vertical temperature profile retrievals for climate research and calibrating other terrestrial and space based sensors. Previous Radio Occultation missions have used the GPS satellites as signal sources. CICERO will use both GPS and Galileo and potentially other high stability radio sources. GNSS-RO instruments are bias and drift free and are tied directly to absolute SI time standards.
Presentation Slides
Community Initiative for Continuing Earth Radio Occultation CICERO
The CICERO Project will deploy a constellation of 100 small (~30kg) 3-axis stabilized remote sensing satellites that produce atmospheric temperature, pressure and moisture profiles and ionospheric electron density profiles worldwide, along with a host of derived products. This remote sensing satellite system will supply high fidelity real-time weather and climate data to the meteorology industry. This dataset is essentially a ‘finite element dataset’ of the entire Earth’s atmospheric and ionospheric conditions. This international mission establishes a model of private space development for the public good that changes the way we collect and disseminate Earth observational data. The CICERO Project inaugurates this model with an evolved third generation technique for weather and climate sensing known as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation, or GNSS-RO. This method not only enables large improvements in weather and storm path predictions, but is becoming the definitive standard in vertical temperature profile retrievals for climate research and calibrating other terrestrial and space based sensors. Previous Radio Occultation missions have used the GPS satellites as signal sources. CICERO will use both GPS and Galileo and potentially other high stability radio sources. GNSS-RO instruments are bias and drift free and are tied directly to absolute SI time standards.
