Observation of Deep Occultation Signals in Tropical Cyclones With COSMIC-2 Measurements

Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals in the radio occultation (RO) technique using new measurements from constellation observing system for meteorology, ionosphere & climate (COSMIC-2) mission were observed very deep below the Earth’s limb. Selected occultations collocated with severe tropical cyclones showed the existence of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) variations at or below −200 km in terms of height of straight line (HSL) connecting a pair of occulting satellites. The presence of such signals is considered as indicative of sharp inversion layers associated with planetary boundary layer. We investigate the potential application of deep occultation signals for detection of tropical cyclones often resulting in strong vertical gradients of refractivity. The most prominent deep signatures computed using 1 s running mean filter can reach 400 V/V, whereas the majority of deep signals exceed the noise level by a factor of two. The cross-satellite interference is important mechanism affecting the structure of deep signals, especially for global positioning system (GPS) occultations.