Atmospheric Profiles from COSMIC Occultation Data

Using a radio occultation technique, scientists are able to use signals broadcast from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to retrieve profiles of bending angles, refractivity, temperature, pressure, and water vapor in the atmosphere. Also, profiles of electron density in the ionosphere. Such data are gathered and processed at the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, Climate (COSMIC) Data Analysis and Archive Center (CDAAC) in Boulder, Colorado. Various products are produced including atmospheric profiles starting from near Earth's surface to the height of the satellites at 800 kilometers (500 miles) above the Earth surface. At this time only atmospheric profiles of bending angle, refractivity, and dry temperature are available. As we receive more data this archive will continue to expand to include more variable profiles.

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Temporal Range

  • Begin:  2006-04-21
    End:  2013-12-31

Keywords

Resource Type dataset
Temporal Range Begin 2006-04-21
Temporal Range End 2013-12-31
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links

Related Resource #1 : COSMIC Data Analysis and Archive Center
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format NetCDF
Standardized Resource Format NetCDF
Asset Size 2132729.172 MB
Legal Constraints

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email datahelp@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization N/A
Distributor NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email datahelp@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization NSF NCAR Geoscience Data Exchange

Author COSMIC Data Analysis and Archive Center, Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Publisher NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research
Publication Date 2013-04-25
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) https://doi.org/10.5065/PW4C-ZC30
Alternate Identifier d723000
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
Progress onGoing
Metadata Date 2025-10-09T01:28:54Z
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.gdex::d723000
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation COSMIC Data Analysis and Archive Center, Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. (2013). Atmospheric Profiles from COSMIC Occultation Data. NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research. https://doi.org/10.5065/PW4C-ZC30. Accessed 10 October 2025.

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