GOAS [Global Positioning System (GPS) Occultation Analysis System] is a computer program that accepts signaloccultation data from GPS receivers aboard low-Earth-orbiting satellites and processes the data to characterize the terrestrial atmosphere and, in somewhat less comprehensive fashion, the ionosphere. GOAS is very robust and can be run in an unattended semi-operational processing mode. It features sophisticated retrieval algorithms that utilize the amplitudes and phases of the GPS signals. It incorporates a module that, using an assumed atmospheric refractivity profile, simulates the effects of the retrieval processing system, including the GPS receiver. GOAS utilizes the GIPSY software for precise determination of orbits as needed for calibration. The GOAS output for the Earth's troposphere and mid-to-lower stratosphere consists of high-resolution (<1 km) profiles of density, temperature, pressure, atmospheric refractivity, bending angles of signals, and water-vapor content versus altitude from the Earth's surface to an altitude of 30 km. The GOAS output for the ionosphere consists of electron-density profiles from an altitude of about 50 km to the altitude of a satellite, plus parameters related to the rapidly varying structure of the electron density, particularly in the E layer of the ionosphere.

This program was written by George Hajj, Emil Kursinski, Stephen Leroy, Byron Iijima, Manuel de la Torre Juarez, Larry Romans, and Chi Ao of Caltech for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For further information, access the Technical Support Package (TSP) free on-line at www.techbriefs.com/tsp under the Software category.

This software is available for commercial licensing. Please contact Don Hart of the California Institute of Technology at (818) 393-3425. Refer to NPO-30596.



This Brief includes a Technical Support Package (TSP).
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Processing GPS Occultation Data To Characterize Atmosphere

(reference NPO-30596) is currently available for download from the TSP library.

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