PlanetiQ Radio Occultation: Preliminary Comparative Analysis of Neutral Profiles vs. COSMIC and NWP Models

Featured Application Our study's findings offer significant practical implications for weather forecasting, climate research, and atmospheric modeling. Through the evaluation of Radio Occultation (RO) observations from the PlanetiQ mission and their comparison with existing datasets, we contribute to enhancing the accuracy of atmospheric profiling, benefiting weather forecasts, climate projections, and environmental monitoring. With PlanetiQ's groundbreaking GNOMES constellation, equipped with state-of-the-art "Pyxis" RO sensors, poised to collect over 50,000 soundings per day, this technological advancement promises to revolutionize global atmospheric monitoring, weather forecasting, space weather prediction, and climate analytics.Abstract Radio Occultation (RO) is pivotal for profiling the neutral and ionized atmosphere, with the PlanetiQ mission, via its GNOMES satellites, striving to establish an advanced atmospheric observing system. However, an assessment of the spatiotemporal distributions of PlanetiQ observations and comparisons with reliable datasets are lacking. This study addresses this gap by examining the temporal and spatial distribution of RO observations from PlanetiQ during its initial 198 operational days in 2023, alongside comparisons with COSMIC and Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. Data from GN02, GN03, and GN04 satellites, yielding 1099, 1313, and 1843 RO events per day, respectively, were analyzed. The satellite constellation's observations demonstrate a generally well-distributed pattern, albeit minor deficiencies in equatorial and polar regions. Single-profile comparisons with COSMIC data reveal strong correlations for pressure, temperature, Water Vapor Pressure (WVP), and refractivity profiles, with temperature exhibiting larger variations (RMSE = 1.24 degrees C). Statistical analyses confirm statistically insignificant differences between the PlanetiQ and COSMIC profiles at the same spatio-temporal coordinates. Comparisons with NWP models show slight differences with GFS, with overall RMSE values of 0.23 mb (WVP), 0.6 mb (pressure), 1.3 (refractivity), and 1.5 degrees C (temperature). However, assessments against GFS/ECMWF models indicate overall compatibility, with insignificant differences between PlanetiQ profiles and model observations.