Multi-channel Global Position System (GPS) carrier phase signals received by the FormoSat-3 (FS3)/COSMIC program's six low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites were used to undertake active limb sounding of the Earth¡¦s atmosphere and ionosphere via radio occultation (RO). In this study, the effects of large-scale horizontal gradients and/or inhomogeneous ionospheric electron densities (ne) were considered by developing an iterative scheme to determine "compensated" total electron content (TEC) values through nearby occultation observations. Using an iterative Abel inversion through "compensated" TEC values, more than one-hundred and eighty thousand vertical ionospheric ne profiles were collected during the intense observation period (IOP) of 20 June - 27 September (day number 171 to 270) 2006. Coincidences of GPS RO observations to ionospheric ne ionosonde data from forty-nine worldwide stations have been examined. It is found that the iterative scheme gives improved retrievals over the standard Abel inversion. From several thousand matches within the IOP experiment, the root mean square (rms) foF2 differences between the ionosonde measurements and the FS3/COSMIC retrievals are improved from 1.67 to 1.07 MHz. The results also show improvement in the overestimates (underestimates) on low (high) retrieved foF2s, while the obtained hmF2s give better agreement with ionosonde observations

Taiwan is located at the land-sea interface in a subtropical region. Because the climate is warm and moist year round, there is a large and highly var...

We demonstrate fluorescent Fe embedded magnetic nanodiamonds by ion implantation and two-step annealing. The diamond characteristics with a highly ordered core and a graphite surface layer are maintained after the implantation process. After the two-step annealing process, a bright red fluorescence associated with nitrogen-vacancy centers is observed. These new fluorescent magnetic nanodiamonds can be used as a dual-function in vivo tracer with both optical visibility and magnetic resonance imaging capabilities. They are potentially useful for the more advanced in vivo biological and medical applications.