Utilization of GPS satellites for precise irradiation measurement and monitoring

Precise measurement of irradiance over the earth under various circumstances like solar flares, coronal mass ejections, over an 11-year solar cycle, etc. leads to better understanding of Sun-earth relationship. To continuously monitor the irradiance over earth-space regions several satellites at several positions are required. For that continuous and multiple satellite monitoring we can use GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites (like GLONASS, GALILEO, future satellites) installed with irradiance measuring and monitoring instruments. GPS satellite system consists of 24 constellations of satellites. Therefore usage of all the satellites leads to 24 measurements of irradiance at the top of the atmosphere (or 12 measurements of those satellites which are pointing towards the Sun) at an instant. Therefore in one day, numerous irradiance observations can be obtained for the whole globe, which will be very helpful for several applications like Albedo calculation, Earth Radiation Budget calculation, monitoring of near earth-space atmosphere, etc. Moreover, measuring irradiance both in ground (using ground instruments) and in space at the same instant of time over a same place, leads to numerous advantages. That is, for a single position we obtain irradiance at the top of the atmosphere, irradiance at ground and the difference in irradiance from over top of the atmosphere to the ground. Measurement of irradiance over the atmosphere and in ground at a precise location gives more fine details about the solar irradiance influence over the earth, path loss and interaction of irradiance with the atmosphere.