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Dataset Overview | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)

GNSS Radio Occultation Soundings from Commercial Off-the-Shelf Receivers Onboard Balloon Platforms (NCEI Accession 0254366)

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The global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) technique has proven to be an effective tool for Earth atmosphere profiling. Traditional spaceborne RO satellite constellations are expensive with relatively low sampling rates for individual satellites. Airborne RO platforms can provide much higher spatial and temporal sampling of ROs around regional weather events. This dataset is the result of a paper which explores the capability of a low-cost and scalable Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) GNSS receiver onboard high-altitude balloons. The atmospheric refractivity profile retrievals from balloon-borne RO payloads obtained from two flight campaigns (World View and ZPM-1) are archived.
  • Cite as: Nelson, Kevin J.; Xie, Feiqin; Chan, Bryan C.; Goel, Ashish; Kosh, Jonathan; Reid, Tyler G. R.; Snyder, Corey R.; Tarantino, Paul M. (2022). GNSS Radio Occultation Soundings from Commercial Off-the-Shelf Receivers Onboard Balloon Platforms (NCEI Accession 0254366). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/ex5z-7r81. Accessed [date].
gov.noaa.nodc:0254366
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Distributor NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
+1-301-713-3277
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Dataset Point of Contact NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
ncei.info@noaa.gov
Time Period 2020-08-20 to 2020-11-29
Spatial Bounding Box Coordinates
West: -121
East: -105
South: 28
North: 45
Spatial Coverage Map
General Documentation
Associated Resources
  • Nelson, K. J., Xie, F., Chan, B. C., Goel, A., Kosh, J., Reid, T. G. R., Snyder, C. R., & Tarantino, P. M. (2023). GNSS radio occultation soundings from commercial off-the-shelf receivers on board balloon platforms. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 16(4), 941–954. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-941-2023
  • Chan, B. C., Goel, A., Kosh, J., Reid, T. G. R., Snyder, C. R., Tarantino, P. M., Soedarmadji, S., Soedarmadji, W., Nelson, K., Xie, F., & Vergalla, M. (2022). Commercial GNSS Radio Occultation on Aerial Platforms With Off-The-Shelf Receivers. NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, 69(4), navi.544. https://doi.org/10.33012/navi.544
  • Chan, B. C., Goel, A., Kosh, J., Reid, T. G. R., Snyder, C. R., Tarantino, P. M., Soedarmadji, S., Soedarmadji, W., Nelson, K., Xie, F., & Vergalla, M. (2021). GNSS Radio Occultation on Aerial Platforms with Commercial Off-The-Shelf Receivers. ArXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2109.13328
Publication Dates
  • publication: 2022-09-08
  • creation: 2022-06-23
Data Presentation Form Digital table - digital representation of facts or figures systematically displayed, especially in columns
Dataset Progress Status Complete - production of the data has been completed
Historical archive - data has been stored in an offline storage facility
Data Update Frequency As needed
Purpose This dataset is available to the public for a wide variety of uses including scientific research and analysis.
Use Limitations
  • accessLevel: public
  • Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives.
Dataset Citation
  • Cite as: Nelson, Kevin J.; Xie, Feiqin; Chan, Bryan C.; Goel, Ashish; Kosh, Jonathan; Reid, Tyler G. R.; Snyder, Corey R.; Tarantino, Paul M. (2022). GNSS Radio Occultation Soundings from Commercial Off-the-Shelf Receivers Onboard Balloon Platforms (NCEI Accession 0254366). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/ex5z-7r81. Accessed [date].
Cited Authors
Principal Investigators
Collaborators
  • Bryan Chan
    Night Crew Labs, LLC
Resource Providers
Points of Contact
Publishers
Acknowledgments
  • Funding Agency: US DOC; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Funding Agency: US National Aeronautic and Space Administration
Theme keywords NODC OBSERVATION TYPES THESAURUS WMO_CategoryCode
  • climatology
Provider Keywords
  • Accumulated Bending Angle
  • Atmospheric Refractivity
  • Excess Doppler Shift
  • Excess Phase
  • Geometric Height
  • Impact Parameter
  • Signal-to-Noise Ratio
Data Center keywords NODC SUBMITTING INSTITUTION NAMES THESAURUS
Platform keywords Provider Platforms
  • Radiosondes
Instrument keywords Provider Instruments
  • GNSS Radio Occultation and Observable Truth (GROOT)
Keywords NCEI ACCESSION NUMBER
Keywords Send2NCEI Submission Package ID
  • EL5T14
Use Constraints
  • Cite as: Nelson, Kevin J.; Xie, Feiqin; Chan, Bryan C.; Goel, Ashish; Kosh, Jonathan; Reid, Tyler G. R.; Snyder, Corey R.; Tarantino, Paul M. (2022). GNSS Radio Occultation Soundings from Commercial Off-the-Shelf Receivers Onboard Balloon Platforms (NCEI Accession 0254366). [indicate subset used]. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.25921/ex5z-7r81. Accessed [date].
Access Constraints
  • Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
Fees
  • In most cases, electronic downloads of the data are free. However, fees may apply for custom orders, data certifications, copies of analog materials, and data distribution on physical media.
Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • 2022-09-08T21:16:59Z - NCEI Accession 0254366 v1.1 was published.
Output Datasets
Lineage information for: dataset
Processing Steps
  • Parameter or Variable: Atmospheric Refractivity (calculated); Units: N-units; Observation Category: satellite; Sampling Instrument: GNSS Radio Occultation and Observable Truth; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Inverse Abel refractivity retrieval on accumulated bending angle profile.
  • Parameter or Variable: Accumulated Bending Angle (measured); Units: angular degree; Observation Category: satellite; Sampling Instrument: GNSS Radio Occultation and Observable Truth; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Geometric Optics and Full Spectrum Inversion modified for airborne/balloon-borne radio occultation.
  • Parameter or Variable: Excess Phase (measured); Units: meter; Observation Category: satellite; Sampling Instrument: GNSS Radio Occultation and Observable Truth; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Difference between observed signal phase and signal phase in vacuum.; Data Quality Method: Log-linear smoothing.
  • Parameter or Variable: Excess Doppler Shift (calculated); Units: meters per second; Observation Category: other; Sampling Instrument: GNSS Radio Occultation and Observable Truth; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Derivative of excess phase.
  • Parameter or Variable: Signal-to-Noise Ratio (calculated); Units: volt per volt; Observation Category: satellite; Sampling Instrument: GNSS Radio Occultation and Observable Truth
  • Parameter or Variable: Impact Parameter (measured); Units: kilometer; Observation Category: other; Sampling Instrument: GNSS Radio Occultation and Observable Truth; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Impact parameter associated with accumulated bending angle.
  • Parameter or Variable: Geometric Height (measured); Units: kilometer; Observation Category: other; Sampling Instrument: GNSS Radio Occultation and Observable Truth; Sampling and Analyzing Method: Height associated with refractivity profile calculated as part of inverse Abel refractivity retrieval.
Last Modified: 2026-04-22T13:34:55Z
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