Observing system simulation experiment for radio occultation measurements of the Venus atmosphere among small satellites

Abstract

We have developed the Venus AFES (atmospheric GCM (general circulation model) for the Earth Simulator) LETKF (local ensemble transform Kalman filter) data assimilation system (VALEDAS) to make full use of observations. In this study, radio occultation measurements among small satellites are evaluated by the observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) of VALEDAS. Idealized observations are prepared by a French Venus Atmospheric GCM in which the cold collar is realistically reproduced. Reproducibility of the cold collar in VALEDAS is tested by several types of observations. The results show that the cold collar is successfully reproduced by assimilating at least 2 or 3 vertical temperature profiles in the polar region every 4 or 6 hours. Therefore, the radio occultation measurements among three satellites in polar orbits would be promising to improve the polar atmospheric structures at about 40–90 km altitudes.