The FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC is a joint Taiwan - U.S. mission that provides a constellation of six identical micro-satellites with unprecedented opportunities for global observations of weather, climate, ionosphere/space weather and geodetic research. The FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC mission was successfully launched on April 15, 2006 (Taiwan time). Each microsatellite carries an advanced GPS receiver (GOX) for radio occultation and precision orbit studies , a tri-band beacon (TBB) transmitter, which transmits 150, 400, and 1067 MHz radio beacons to ground-based receivers for ionospheric tomography and radio wave scintillation studies, and a tiny ionosphere photometer (TIP) for ionospheric airglow observation in nadir direction (135.6 nm). The satellite mission is expected to provide 2,500 radio occultation observations on vertical profiles of atmospheric air density, temperature, and water vapor as well as ionospheric electron density per day.

During the first few months after launch the six micro-satellites will stay relatively close to each other in longitude providing dense GPS radio occultation soundings and ionosphere observations from TBB and TIP. Dense observations provide an excellent opportunity for performing cross validation of the Formosat-3/COSMIC data with ground-based, airborne and even conventional satellite observations. NSPO and Taiwan science community are in the process of conducting an Intense Observation Period (IOP) campaign during May-November, 2006 for both atmosphere/weather and ionosphere/space weather studies. Scientists from other nations are also encouraged to conduct similar IOP campaigns.

To provide an opportunity for scientists to present and discuss their campaign results, impacts of studies and future collaborations on using the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC data, NSPO will hold an international scientific meeting on "FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC Workshop 2006 - Early Results and IOP Campaigns" to be held in International Conference Hall, Condensed Matter & Physics Building, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan during November 28-December 1, 2006. Scientists worldwide are invited to attend the workshop.

Please Note: This web page is only for U.S. Students (U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents). Regular participants should register directly with the Taiwan's Workshop Web Page.

The important dates for the workshop are:

Application submission deadline: Oct 27, 2006
Acceptance notification: Nov 1, 2006.
Poster submission deadline: Nov 10, 2006.
Leaving the U.S. to go to Taiwan: Nov 25, 2006.
Arriving back in the U.S.: Dec 2, 2006.