High-Resolution Retrieval of Stratospheric Gravity Waves from Satellite (SOHIP) Occultation Measurements

The Stellar Occultation Hypertemporal Imaging Payload (SOHIP), recently deployed aboard the International Space Station (ISS), observes atmospheric refractive bending of starlight during stellar occultation events. In this poster, we present a high-resolution retrieval technique based on an “onion-peeling” inversion algorithm to derive atmospheric density and temperature profiles from SOHIP measurements. With a vertical sampling of approximately 3 meters, the SOHIP dataset offers unprecedented sensitivity to fine-scale fluctuations in the stratosphere (~20–50 km altitude), potentially enabling the detection and characterization of vertically propagating gravity waves (GWs). The retrieved density perturbations offer the possibility to form a new GW dataset that can significantly benefit the middle and upper atmosphere research community. (Prepared by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and was supported by the LLNL-LDRD Program under Project No. 24-ERD-040)