The most accurate thermometer for the Earth in space.
Developed with the combined efforts of the Taiwan National Space Organization (NSPO) and the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs), FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC is the world's first micro-satellite constellation designed for observing the Earth's atmosphere through GPS radio occultation. Since its launch in 2006, FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC has contributed immensely to meteorology, climatology, as well as our understanding of the ionosphere. With its outstanding contributions to weather prediction, climate research, and space weather studies, FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC has been called "the most accurate thermometer for the Earth in space."

Since its launch in 2006, FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC has contributed immensely to meteorology, climatology, as well as our understanding of the ionosphere – the highest region where the Earth's atmosphere transitions to near-Earth space.

Using the more than 7,000,000 atmospheric and ionospheric profiles observed by FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC since its launch on April 15th, 2006, scientists have been able to reconstruct the global three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere and ionosphere. To date, more 2,100 users across 67 countries use FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC observations for weather prediction, as well as climate, space weather, and related studies.

Initially designed with an operational lifetime of 5 years, the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC mission has already been in operation for more than 7 years, despite continuous exposure to the harsh space environment.  However, due to the natural aging of satellite components, the number of daily observations had degraded to about 1,000 profiles by late 2011, from a peak exceeding 2,500 daily profiles. 

The NSPO satellite operations team has recently developed a unique charging procedure for the satellite batteries designed to extend mission lifetime. The extra battery life resulting from this procedure has increased observing time for each of the micro-satellites, with the number of daily observations increased to about 1,500 profiles in November 2012.  This technique will be presented at the 2nd International Conference on GPS Radio Occultation in 2013 (ICGPSRO) from 14th to 16th May, at Aspire Resort, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC data has led to substantial increases in operational weather forecasting accuracy. According to reports from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), including FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC observations in weather model inputs has resulted in an increase in error reduction from 8%(2008) to 10~20%(2012), even through FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC data account for only 2~3% of all the data input for weather prediction. 

By analyzing the paths of 23 typhoons in 2012, the Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute (TTFRI) of NARLabs also reports that the accuracy of 24 hour typhoon trace prediction can be improved by about 10%. The ionospheric observations provided by FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC have also led to substantial improvements in our understanding of space weather disturbances, which can adversely impact satellite communications, positioning and navigation. The accuracy of space weather predictions has also been found to improve by 4% when FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC data is included in model inputs.

With its outstanding contributions to weather prediction, climate research, and space weather studies, FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC has been called "the most accurate thermometer for the Earth in space."  The mission has also led to Taiwanese research teams playing a major role in the development of satellite radio occultation techniques, and Taiwanese universities becoming hotspots for research using this new remote sensing technology.