Expecting 50 to 100 participants (i.e., no "big-conference setting") it is planned to have a workshop in the true sense; that is, no parallel sessions, no very short (10 min-type) presentations, high-visibility of posters, ample of informal possibilities to enter into scientific discussion and discourse, and so on.

Presentation types and equipment details:

Overall session structure:

Morning sessions (typically 9-10:30, 11-12:30), afternoon sessions (typically 14-15:30), and early-evening sessions (typically 16-17:30 oral and 17:30-19 posters & ample of free beverages and snacks) are foreseen on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday (poster sessions Tuesday and Thursday). Sufficient informal coffee break and lunch time is left in between. On Wednesday only morning sessions will take place (excursion and dinner in the afternoon & evening). On Friday, the close-out event is planned to end by 13:00 hrs. The afternoon may then be used for formal or informal splinter meetings (organized by participant sub-groups; special smaller meeting rooms are available for this purpose). One splinter meeting, the ACE+ International Science Team (ACE-IST) Startup Meeting, is already scheduled and will take place directly in the main meeting hall.

The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE): An Overview
P. Bernath*, C. Boone, and K. Walker
(Dep. of Chemistry/Univ. of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)

Applications of Occultation Data in Climate Monitoring and Research
L. Bengtsson (ESSC/University of Reading, U.K; MPI for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany)

Stellar Occultations from GOMOS on ENVISAT: Overview and First Results
J.-L. Bertaux*, A. Hauchecorne*, F. Dalaudier, and C. Cot
(Service d'Aeronomie du CNRS, Verrieres le Buisson, France)

The Solar Occultation Technique: A Review and First Results from METEOR/SAGE III
W.P. Chu*, C. Trepte, L. Thomason, and J. Zawodny
(Langley Research Center/NASA, Hampton, VA, U.S.A.)

Wave Optics Algorithms for Processing Radio Occultation Data in the Lower Troposphere:
A Review and Synthesis
M.E. Gorbunov (Inst. of Atmospheric Physics, Moscow, Russia)

Exploring the Fine Structure of the Stratosphere by Means of Stellar Occultation Data
A.S. Gurvich (Inst. of Atmospheric Physics, Moscow, Russia)

An Overview of the University of Arizona ATOMS Project
B.M. Herman*, D. Feng, D. Flittner, E.R. Kursinski, S. Syndergaard, and D. Ward
(IAP/University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

The ACE+ Mission: An Atmosphere and Climate Explorer based on GPS, GALILEO, and LEO-LEO Radio Occultation
P. Hoeg*(1) and G. Kirchengast (2)
(1) DMI, Copenhagen, Denmark, (2) IGAM/Univ. of Graz, Austria.

Ionosphere Radio Occultation Measurements and Space Weather
N. Jakowski*, S. Heise, A. Wehrenpfennig, and K. Tsybulya
(IKN/DLR, Neustrelitz, Germany)

Assimilation of Occultation Data into Atmospheric Models: Fundamentals, Requirements and Future Key Applications
L. Kornblueh (MPI for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany)

A LEO-LEO Occultation Observing System for Characterizing Atmospheric Humidity, Temperature, Geopotential, Ozone, and Clouds
E.R. Kursinski*(1,2), D. Feng (1), D. Flittner (1), G. Hajj (2), B. Herman (1), F. Romberg (2), S. Syndergaard (1), D. Ward (1), and T. Yunck (2)
(1) IAP/Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A., (2) Jet Propulsion Lab/NASA, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.

ENVISAT/GOMOS: Stellar Occultation Inversion Schemes and First Analyses of Real Data
E. Kyrola* and J. Tamminen (FMI, Helsinki, Finland)

Sounding the Troposphere by LEO-LEO Occultation: A Simulation Retieval System and Performance Analysis Results
S.S. Leroy*, C.O. Ao, and M. De Torre Juarez (JPL/NASA, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.)

The Radio-Holography Approach in GNSS Occultation Data Analysis: Review and Application to Resolving Fine Structures in the Atmosphere and Ionosphere
A.G. Pavelyev*(1), Y.A. Liou (2), K. Igarashi (3), J. Wickert (4), K. Hocke (3), and C.Y. Huang (2)
(1) Inst. of Radio Engineering and Electronics/RAS, Moscow, Russia, (2) CSRSR/National Central Univ., Taipeh, Taiwan, (3) Commun. Research Lab., Tokyo, Japan, (4) GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany.

Using Occultation Data in Operational Meteorology: A Review, Specific Requirements and Prospects
A. Rhodin (DWD, Offenbach; MPI for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany)

The COSMIC Mission: Overview, Data Analysis Center, and On-Going Studies Algorithms
C. Rocken*, Y.-H. Kuo, W.S. Schreiner, S. Sokolovskiy, D. Hunt and D. Ector
(COSMIC Program/UCAR, Boulder, CO, U.S.A.)

Occultation Science and Applications in Europe: The Contribution and Role of ESA
P. Silvestrin (ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands)

Fundamentals of Open-loop Tracking of Radio Occultation Signals in the Lower Troposphere
S.V. Sokolovskiy (COSMIC Program/UCAR, Boulder, CO, U.S.A.)

Utility of Occultations for Atmospheric Wave Activity Studies: Results of GPS/MET Data Analyses and Future Plans
T. Tsuda*(1), K. Hocke (2), and H. Takahashi (3)
(1) RAS Center/Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, (2) Commun. Research Lab., Tokyo, Japan, (3) INPE, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The CHAMP GPS Occultation Experiment: Results Achieved and Future Prospects
J. Wickert*(1), G. Beyerle (1), L. Grunwaldt (1), R. Koenig (1), T. K. Meehan (2), Ch. Reigber (1), and T. Schmidt (1)
(1) GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany, (2) Jet Propulsion Lab/NASA, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.

The Stellar Occultation Technique: Past Achievements and Future Challenges
S. Yee (APL/Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, MD, U.S.A.)

Occultation Science from the Sixties to Present
T. Yunck* and W. Melbourne (JPL/NASA, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.)

ACE+ International Science Team (ACE-IST) Startup Meeting:

This 1st ACE-IST Meeting will take place 14:30-16:30 hrs on Fri, Sept 20, in a room nearby the main meeting hall.
ACE+ - Atmosphere and Climate Explorer based on GPS, GALILEO, and LEO-LEO radio occultation - is a satellite mission, which was recently, in May 2002, selected by ESA as its top priority out of 25 missions proposed within the 2nd cycle of ESA Earth Explorer Opportunity Missions (ACE+ Lead Investigators: P. Hoeg and G. Kirchengast). After full confirmation late 2003, ACE+ development shall last until 2007, with launches 2007/08 followed by a five years operational phase. An invited talk on ACE+ during the week will provide an introduction to the mission and its objectives.
This 1st ACE-IST Meeting - open to all interested colleagues, with those who have supported the ACE+ proposal particularly invited - will provide detailed ACE+ background and status information (by the Lead Investigators) as well as be a first broad discussion forum to start the process of setting up an international team of ACE-IST members (leaders of envisaged ACE-related research projects) and associated members (members of envisaged project teams).
Everybody interested to join this splinter meeting can enlist on-site at the Registration&Information Desk during the week.