Retrieval of Electron Density Profile for KOMPSAT-5 GPS Radio Occultation

Abstract

The AOPOD (Atmosphere Occultation and Precision Orbit Determination) system, the secondary payload of KOMPSAT (KOrea Multi-Purpose SATellite)-5 scheduled to be launched in 2010, shall provide GPS radio occultation data. In this paper, we simulated the GPS radio occultation characteristic of KOMPSAT-5 and retrieved electron density profiles using KROPS (KASI Radio Occultation Processing Software). The electron density retrieved from CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) GPS radio occultation data on June 20, 2004 was compared with IRI (International Reference Ionosphere) - 2001, PLP (Planar Langmuir Probe), and ionosonde measurements. When the result was compared with ionosonde measurements, the discrepancies were 5 km on the F_2 peak height (hmF_2) and 3×10^{10} el/m^3 on the electron density of the F_2 peak height (NmF_2). By comparing with the Langmuir Probe measurements of CHAMP satellite (PLP), both agrees with 1.6×10^{11} el/m^3 at the height of 365.6 km.

Keywords

• AOPOD
• KOMPSAT-5
• GPS radio occultation
• electron density profile