This presentation concentrates on solar occultation measurements with the spaceborne spectrometer SCIAMACHY in the UV-Vis wavelength range. Solar occultation measurements provide unique information about the vertical distribution of atmospheric constituents. For retrieval of vertical trace gas concentration profiles, an algorithm has been developed based on the optimal estimation method. The fo...

The radio occultation (RO) technique, employing the GPS constellation of satellites and radio receivers in low earth orbit, can provide valuable atmospheric profile information (Ware et al. 1996; Kursinski et al. 1996; Rocken et al. 1997; Wickert et al. 2001). The radio occultation technique has been long used in the study of planetary atmospheres (e.g. Fjeldbo et al. 1971) where it has provide...

There are several observational campaigns under way to detect kilometer size foreground Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) through their occultation of background stars. The interpretation of an occultation light curve, unfortunately, is affected by a geometric degeneracy such that one is unable to determine the KBO size independent of its distance. This degeneracy can be broken through a precise measu...

We investigate the linear polarization in the light of extrasolar planetary systems that may arise as a result of an occultation of the star by a transiting planet. Such an occultation breaks any spherical symmetry over the projected stellar disk and thus results in a non-vanishing linear polarization. This polarization will furthermore vary as the occultation progresses. We present both analyt...

The occultation technique of determining the properties of the atmosphere using absorption spectroscopy is examined. The intensity of a star, in certain atmospheric absorption bands, is monitored by a satellite tracking the star during occultation by the Earth’s atmosphere. The intensity data in certain wavelength intervals, where absorption is attributed to a single species, are related to the...

The atmosphere sounding experiment of the German CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) satellite mission was activated on February 11, 2001. Since then more than 110,000 occultations were recorded as of mid-December 2002. The results of nearly two years CHAMP GPS (Global Positioning System) occultation measurements and data analysis have shown, that significant improvements of the GPS radio...

Despite its fundamental importance in radiative transfer, atmospheric dynamics and the hydrological cycle, atmospheric water is inadequately characterized particularly at a global scale. Occultation measurements from the Global Positioning System (GPS) should imporve upon thids situation. Individual occultations yield profiles of specific humidity accurate to -0.2 gkg providing sensitive measur...

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The Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS) monitors fields of up to ∼1000 stars at 5 Hz simultaneously with four small telescopes to detect occultation events from small (∼1 km) Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). The survey presents a number of challenges, in particular the fact that the occultation events we are searching for are extremely rare and are typically manifested as slight flux drops ...