HR: 0800h
AN: P51B-1433    [Abstracts]
TI: Investigating Structures in Thick, Complex Atmospheres Using Advanced Multiple Phase Screen Simulation of Radio Occultation
AU: * Han, C
EM: chinsan@stanford.edu
AF: Stanford University, 350 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 United States
AU: Tyler, G
EM: len.tyler@stanford.edu
AF: Stanford University, 350 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 United States
AB: Advances in forward simulation of planetary radio occultation for thick atmospheres have allowed for a more accurate representation of the effects of atmospheric structure on radio occultation experiments. As a result, the effectiveness of inversion methods for recovering atmospheric profiles (e.g., refractivity) from occultation data can be determined more exactly. This research presents 1) advances in the multiple phase screen (MPS) technique for forward simulation of thick atmosphere radio occultation, and 2) results of inversion of simulated data for occultation of thick, complex atmospheres. While the traditional MPS method has proven reliable for thin atmosphere simulations, it fairs less favorably in simulations for occultation of highly refractive, thick atmospheres. This research attempts to produce more accurate forward simulations for thick atmosphere radio occultation by accounting for ray curvature in the standard MPS technique. Using these results, this research also probes the effect of complex atmospheric structures, such as ducts and critical refraction, on radio occultation as well as the effectiveness of Abel inversion in recovering atmospheric profiles for refractivity. Diffraction from a planet limb and sub-Fresnel-scale structure in thick atmospheres is also investigated, along with the effectiveness of wave-optic inversion techniques, i.e., back propagation.
DE: 6900 RADIO SCIENCE
DE: 6994 Instruments and techniques
DE: 0394 Instruments and techniques
DE: 0644 Numerical methods
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting