The ROSA Radio Occultation experiment on board OCEANSAT-2

Oceansat-2 is a mission developed by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for applications dedicated to ocean studies and meteorology. It will carry three payload instruments: an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM), a Ku-band Scatterometer (SCAT) from ISRO and a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric studies (ROSA) from the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Oceansat-2 is planned to be launched by Indian PSLV launcher during 2008. ROSA data will be processed on ground by a group of Universities and Italian research centers led by Istituto Superiore M. Boella (under ASI contract) that will provide products up to level 3 (temperature, pressure, humidity, electron density profiles). Furthermore other data needed for climatological, meteorological, space weather and geodesy studies will also be provided in this framework. This paper will show the basic Radio Occultation concepts and user requirements, an overview of the ROSA instrument, the OCEANSAT-2 opportunity mission and the problems associated with the ROSA accommodation onboard OCEANSAT-2.