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[1] The Equatorial Electrojet (EEJ) produces a strong magnetic signal in measurements of the low-orbiting CHAMP satellite. Six years of data with more than 30,000 dayside equator crossings provide a unique data basis to study this current system. In addition to scalar measurements used in previous studies, we have also inverted vector magnetic field measurements to gain accurate meridional prof...

[1] Beside the GPS radio occultation measurements of the troposphere and ionosphere, the CHAMP satellite tracks presently up to 8 GPS satellites simultaneously for navigation. The received dual frequency GPS signals provide valuable information on the ionization state of the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere. This paper briefly describes a new developed model assisted technique to improve the...

We review research on geomagnetic pulsations carried out using magnetic field measurements from the CHAMP lowEarth-orbit (LEO) satellite and ground-based stations in South Africa and Hungary. The high quality magnetic field measurements from CHAMP made it possible to extract and clearly resolve Pi2 and Pc3 pulsations in LEO satellite data. Our analyses for nighttime Pi2 pulsations are indicativ...

CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) and GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) formed a satellite configuration for precise atmospheric sounding during the first activation of the GPS (Global Positioning System) radio occultation experiment aboard GRACE on 28 and 29 July 2004. 338 occultations were recorded aboard both satellites, providing globally distributed vertical profiles ...

Fig. 1. The German CHAMP satellite (view from antivelocity direction with GPS occultation antennas) Abstract: The German CHAMP (Challenging Minisatellite Payload) satellite (launched on July 15, 2000) is a geoscience mission aiming for the determination of Earth’s gravity and magnetic field and for GPS-based atmospheric sounding. The atmospheric profiling experiment onboard CHAMP was started in...

The German research satellite CHAMP, launched on July 15, 2000, features two tracking systems: a GPS Black Jack flight receiver and a Laser Retro Reflector (LRR). For operating the ground station network of the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) orbit predictions are needed. In order to meet the accuracy requirements of the SLR technique orbit predictions for CHAMP are generated at 12-h...

[1] The current density of the noontime equatorial electrojet (EEJ) as determined from CHAMP data is highly variable between successive passes of the satellite, which are separated by 23 in distance and 93 min in time. An open question is to which extent this variability is caused by temporal or spatial variations in the ionosphere. Another important question is the connection between EEJ and g...

Using the principle of energy conservation has been considered for gravity field determination from satellite observations since the early satellite era. CHAMP is the first satellite to which the energy balance approach can be usefully applied, now that near-continuous orbit tracking by GPS is available, aided by accelerometry. The feasibility of this approach has recently been demonstrated. Th...

This work describes global gravity field modeling from observations of the CHAMP and the GOCE satellite mission. In the case of CHAMP the so-called Energy Balance Approach is applied to measurements of GPS high-low tracking of the low orbiting CHAMP spacecraft. In the case of GOCE gravity gradiometry is the main observable. The experience gained processing real data of the CHAMP satellite missi...