This paper mainly focuses on the validation
of temperature estimates derived with the newly launched Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC)/Formosa Satellite 3 (FORMOSAT-
3) system. The analysis is based on the radio occultation (RO) data samples collected during the first year observation from April 2006 to April 2007. For the validation, we have used the operational stratospheric analyses including
the National Centers for Environmental Prediction - Reanalysis (NCEP), the Japanese 25-year Reanalysis (JRA-25), and the United Kingdom Met Office (MetO) data sets. Comparisons done in different formats reveal good agreement between
the COSMIC and reanalysis outputs. Spatially, the
largest deviations are noted in the polar latitudes, and heightwise, the tropical tropopause region noted the maximum differences
(2–4 K). We found that among the three reanalysis
data sets the NCEP data sets have the best resemblance with the COSMIC measurements.