Extending our understanding of the planetary atmospheres beyond Fresnel scale resolution and spherical symmetry
This project focuses on the investigation of planetary atmospheres through radio occultation
experiments, with particular emphasis on Venus and Jupiter.
It supports the development of
advanced methods for the simulation and analysis of atmospheric radio sounding observations and
contributes to the scientific preparation of future missions such as ESA’s
JUICE and EnVision.
A central aspect of the project is the development of 2D and 3D raytracing software to model
the propagation of radio signals through
non-spherically symmetric atmospheres. This allows a more detailed analysis of complex atmospheric and ionospheric regions, such as the Venus
terminator or
the oblate atmosphere of Jupiter. In parallel, radio science data processing
methods are being advanced to improve the vertical resolution of atmospheric profiles and
to correct for multipath propagation effects.
The project aims to advance modern radio occultation processing techniques and to improve
the understanding of atmospheric and
ionospheric processes at Venus and Jupiter.
This project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under project number PA525/29-1.
