Articles | Volume 16, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2129-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2129-2023
Research article
 | 
24 Apr 2023
Research article |  | 24 Apr 2023

Stratospheric temperature measurements from nanosatellite stellar occultation observations of refractive bending

Dana L. McGuffin, Philip J. Cameron-Smith, Matthew A. Horsley, Brian J. Bauman, Wim De Vries, Denis Healy, Alex Pertica, Chris Shaffer, and Lance M. Simms

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Cited articles

Anthes, R. A.: Exploring Earth's atmosphere with radio occultation: contributions to weather, climate and space weather, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 1077–1103, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-4-1077-2011, 2011. a
Barrell, H. and Sears, J.: The refraction and dispersion of air and dispersion of air for the visible spectrum, Philos. T. R. Soc. S. A, 238, 1–64, https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1939.0004, 1939. a
Bauman, B. and Pertica, A. J.: Integrated telescope for imaging applications, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, #10935780, https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1805583 (last access: 28 March 2023), 2021. a
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Culverwell, I. D., Lewis, H. W., Offiler, D., Marquardt, C., and Burrows, C. P.: The Radio Occultation Processing Package, ROPP, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1887–1899, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1887-2015, 2015. a
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Short summary
This work demonstrates the viability of a remote sensing technique using nanosatellites to measure stratospheric temperature. This measurement technique can probe the stratosphere and mesosphere at a fine vertical scale around the globe unlike other high-altitude measurement techniques, which would provide an opportunity to observe atmospheric gravity waves and turbulence. We analyze observations from two satellite platforms to provide a proof of concept and characterize measurement uncertainty.
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