PlanetiQ, the GNSS/GPS-RO data company, presented three scientific papers at the premier meteorological conference in the United States last week in New Orleans, the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS). The authors included Rob Kursinski, Jonathan Brandmeyer, Brian Giesinger, and Xuelei Feng.
All studies drew on data from PlanetiQ’s constellation of GNSS-RO (also called GPS-RO) satellites currently in orbit. PlanetiQ provides this data to government agencies, research institutions, and commercial organizations for a wide range of applications, including weather forecasting and space weather modeling.
The first presentation, “PlanetiQ Initial Precipitation Observations via Dual Linear Polarization Radio Occultation Measurements,” highlighted results from the Spanish PAZ mission. It included an overview of PlanetiQ’s proprietary calibration and retrieval process used to isolate precipitation-induced signatures, along with initial differential phase results. The study determined the noise floor in the absence of precipitation, compared findings with other collocated precipitation measurements and ERA5 snowfall analyses, and showed strong correlation with PAZ data. It also demonstrated performance differences over land versus ocean, as well as the insensitivity of the measurements to variations in surface conditions and emissivity.
The second presentation, “PlanetiQ GNSS RO Capabilities with a Focus on the Lower Troposphere and Boundary Layer,” emphasized how PlanetiQ’s high-SNR RO data is critical for minimizing or eliminating biases in RO profiles of the lower troposphere and boundary layer (LTBL). It covered the detection of ducting conditions—frequent especially over oceans—that require special processing of RO data to reduce biases, underscoring the importance of identifying when ducting is occurring.
Link: PlanetiQ GNSS RO Capabilities with a Focus on the Lower Troposphere and Boundary Layer
The final presentation, “PlanetiQ Observations of Total Electron Content and Ionospheric Scintillations,” described PlanetiQ’s advanced ionospheric monitoring and proprietary calibration techniques for removing local multipath effects and transmitter/receiver differential code biases (DCB) from TEC observations. With the ionosphere evolving quickly, low-latency data is essential: PlanetiQ currently delivers data with an average latency of ~35 minutes and aims to reduce this to ~10 minutes with future satellites. The presentation concluded with results from the May 2024 Gannon Storm.
Link: PlanetiQ Observations of Total Electron Content and Ionospheric Scintillations
PlanetiQ has long maintained a strong presence at AMS and looks forward to returning in 2026 with both presentations and an exhibit booth.
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