Influence of station density and multi-constellation GNSS observations on troposphere tomography

Troposphere tomography, using multi-constellation observations from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs), has become a novel approach for the three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of water vapour fields. An analysis of the integration of four GNSSs (BeiDou, GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo) observations is presented to investigate the impact of station density and single- and multi-constellation GNSS observations on troposphere tomography. Additionally, the optimal horizontal resolution of the research area is determined in Hong Kong considering both the number of voxels divided, and the coverage rate of discretized voxels penetrated by satellite signals. The results show that densification of the GNSS network plays a more important role than using multi-constellation GNSS observations in improving the retrieval of 3-D atmospheric water vapour profiles. The root mean square of slant wet delay (SWD) residuals derived from the single-GNSS observations decreased by 16&thinsp;% when the data from the other four stations are added. Furthermore, additional experiments have been carried out to analyse the contributions of different combined GNSS data to the reconstructed results, and the comparisons show some interesting results: (1) the number of iterations used in determining the weighting matrices of different equations in tomography modelling can be decreased when considering multi-constellation GNSS observations and (2) the reconstructed quality of 3-D atmospheric water vapour using multi-constellation GNSS data can be improved by about 11&thinsp;% when compared to the SWD estimated with precise point positioning, but this was not as high as expected.</p

Determination of the spatial and temporal variation of tropospheric water vapour using CGPS networks

Tropospheric water vapour is the main limiting factor in using GPS to determine crustal deformation at highest accuracy. On the other hand, it is an important variable to monitor meteorological and climatic processes. This paper discusses both aspects: the modelling of tropospheric water vapour using meteorological data as well as the determination of the integrated amount of water vapour and its spatiotemporal variation using GPS data. Switzerland has been chosen as experiment area. The Swiss continuous GPS (CGPS) network AGNES is used as a reference network, which represents a realistic scenario for GPS-based water vapour determination. Data of the Swiss numerical weather model aLMo are used for systematic comparison and validation. For the first aspect, integrated tropospheric wet refractivity values are determined from meteorological measurements and compared with GPS path delays. An overall agreement of 1 cm of zenith wet path delay was achieved. For the second aspect a tomographic approach has been developed. A total of 6720 GPS-determined profiles are compared with data of the numerical weather model and radio soundings. The results are statistically evaluated and systematically compared with each other. A correlation between the accuracy and the weather situation was found. Overall, an agreement of 5-7 ppm (refractivity unit) was obtained compared to aLMo. The use of GPS-determined path delays from a permanent GPS network is the recommended method to correct GPS measurements. In all other cases, the two methods presented (COITROPA, COMEDIE) are a feasible alternative to determine path delays accurately. Furthermore, GPS is a convenient application to determine the amount of water vapour in the troposphere. It is demonstrated that the vertical distribution of water vapour can be deduced by applying the tomographic approac

Influence of station density and multi-constellation GNSS observations on troposphere tomography

Troposphere tomography, using multi-constellation observations from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs), has become a novel approach for the three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of water vapour fields. An analysis of the integration of four GNSSs (BeiDou, GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo) observations is presented to investigate the impact of station density and single- and multi-constellation GNSS observations on troposphere tomography. Additionally, the optimal horizontal resolution of the research area is determined in Hong Kong considering both the number of voxels divided, and the coverage rate of discretized voxels penetrated by satellite signals. The results show that densification of the GNSS network plays a more important role than using multi-constellation GNSS observations in improving the retrieval of 3-D atmospheric water vapour profiles. The root mean square of slant wet delay (SWD) residuals derived from the single-GNSS observations decreased by 16&amp;amp;thinsp;% when the data from the other four stations are added. Furthermore, additional experiments have been carried out to analyse the contributions of different combined GNSS data to the reconstructed results, and the comparisons show some interesting results: (1) the number of iterations used in determining the weighting matrices of different equations in tomography modelling can be decreased when considering multi-constellation GNSS observations and (2) the reconstructed quality of 3-D atmospheric water vapour using multi-constellation GNSS data can be improved by about 11&amp;amp;thinsp;% when compared to the SWD estimated with precise point positioning, but this was not as high as expected

An improved pixel-based water vapor tomography model

As an innovative use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), the GNSS water vapor tomography technique shows great potential in monitoring three-dimensional water vapor variation. Most of the previous studies employ the pixel-based method, i.e., dividing the troposphere space into finite voxels and considering water vapor in each voxel as constant. However, this method cannot reflect the variations in voxels and breaks the continuity of the troposphere. Moreover, in the pixel-based method, each voxel needs a parameter to represent the water vapor density, which means that huge numbers of parameters are needed to represent the water vapor field when the interested area is large and/or the expected resolution is high. In order to overcome the abovementioned problems, in this study, we propose an improved pixel-based water vapor tomography model, which uses layered optimal polynomial functions obtained from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) by adaptive training for water vapor retrieval. Tomography experiments were carried out using the GNSS data collected from the Hong Kong Satellite Positioning Reference Station Network (SatRef) from 25 March to 25 April 2014 under different scenarios. The tomographic results are compared to the ECMWF data and validated by the radiosonde. Results show that the new model outperforms the traditional one by reducing the root-mean-square error (RMSE), and this improvement is more pronounced, at 5.88&thinsp;% in voxels without the penetration of GNSS rays. The improved model also has advantages in more convenient expression.</p

Determination of the spatial and temporal variation of tropospheric water vapour using CGPS networks

Tropospheric water vapour is the main limiting factor in using GPS to determine crustal deformation at highest accuracy. On the other hand, it is an important variable to monitor meteorological and climatic processes. This paper discusses both aspects: the modelling of tropospheric water vapour using meteorological data as well as the determination of the integrated amount of water vapour and its spatiotemporal variation using GPS data. Switzerland has been chosen as experiment area. The Swiss continuous GPS (CGPS) network AGNES is used as a reference network, which represents a realistic scenario for GPS-based water vapour determination. Data of the Swiss numerical weather model aLMo are used for systematic comparison and validation. For the first aspect, integrated tropospheric wet refractivity values are determined from meteorological measurements and compared with GPS path delays. An overall agreement of 1 cm of zenith wet path delay was achieved. For the second aspect a tomographic approach has been developed. A total of 6720 GPS-determined profiles are compared with data of the numerical weather model and radio soundings. The results are statistically evaluated and systematically compared with each other. A correlation between the accuracy and the weather situation was found. Overall, an agreement of 5-7 ppm (refractivity unit) was obtained compared to aLMo. The use of GPS-determined path delays from a permanent GPS network is the recommended method to correct GPS measurements. In all other cases, the two methods presented (COITROPA, COMEDIE) are a feasible alternative to determine path delays accurately. Furthermore, GPS is a convenient application to determine the amount of water vapour in the troposphere. It is demonstrated that the vertical distribution of water vapour can be deduced by applying the tomographic approac

Compressive sensing reconstruction of 3D wet refractivity based on GNSS and InSAR observations

In this work, the reconstruction quality of an approach for neutrospheric water vapor tomography based on Slant Wet Delays (SWDs) obtained from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is investigated. The novelties of this approach are (1) the use of both absolute GNSS and absolute InSAR SWDs for tomography and (2) the solution of the tomographic system by means of compressive sensing (CS). The tomographic reconstruction is performed based on (i) a synthetic SWD dataset generated using wet refractivity information from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and (ii) a real dataset using GNSS and InSAR SWDs. Thus, the validation of the achieved results focuses (i) on a comparison of the refractivity estimates with the input WRF refractivities and (ii) on radiosonde profiles. In case of the synthetic dataset, the results show that the CS approach yields a more accurate and more precise solution than least squares (LSQ). In addition, the benefit of adding synthetic InSAR SWDs into the tomographic system is analyzed. When applying CS, adding synthetic InSAR SWDs into the tomographic system improves the solution both in magnitude and in scattering. When solving the tomographic system by means of LSQ, no clear behavior is observed. In case of the real dataset, the estimated refractivities of both methodologies show a consistent behavior although the LSQ and CS solution strategies differ

Benchmark campaign and case study episode in central Europe for development and assessment of advanced GNSS tropospheric models and products

Initial objectives and design of the Benchmark campaign organized within the European COST Action ES1206 (2013–2017) are described in the paper. This campaign has aimed to support the development and validation of advanced Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) tropospheric products, in particular high-resolution and ultra-fast zenith total delays (ZTDs) and tropospheric gradients derived from a dense permanent network. A complex data set was collected for the 8-week period when several extreme heavy precipitation episodes occurred in central Europe which caused severe river floods in this area. An initial processing of data sets from GNSS products and numerical weather models (NWMs) provided independently estimated reference parameters – zenith tropospheric delays and tropospheric horizontal gradients. Their provision gave an overview about the product similarities and complementarities, and thus a potential for improvements of a synergy in their optimal exploitations in future. Reference GNSS and NWM results were intercompared and visually analysed using animated maps. ZTDs from two reference GNSS solutions compared to global ERA-Interim reanalysis resulted in accuracy at the 10 mm level in terms of the root mean square (rms) with a negligible overall bias, comparisons to Global Forecast System (GFS) forecasts showed accuracy at the 12 mm level with the overall bias of −5 mm and, finally, comparisons to mesoscale ALADIN-CZ forecast resulted in accuracy at the 8 mm level with a negligible total bias. The comparison of horizontal tropospheric gradients from GNSS and NWM data demonstrated a very good agreement among independent solutions with negligible biases and an accuracy of about 0.5 mm. Visual comparisons of maps of zenith wet delays and tropospheric horizontal gradients showed very promising results for future exploitations of advanced GNSS tropospheric products in meteorological applications, such as severe weather event monitoring and weather nowcasting. The GNSS products revealed a capability of providing more detailed structures in atmosphere than the state-of-the-art numerical weather models are able to capture. In an initial study on the contribution of hydrometeors (e.g. cloud water, ice or snow) to GNSS signal delays during severe weather, the effect reached up to 17 mm, and it was suggested that hydrometeors should be carefully accounted for within the functional model. The reference products will be further exploited in various specific studies using the Benchmark data set. It is thus going to play a key role in these highly interdisciplinary developments towards better mutual benefits from advanced GNSS and meteorological products.Web of Science973008298

The application of spaceborne GPS to atmospheric limb sounding and global change monitoring

This monograph is intended for readers with minimal background in radio science who seek a relatively comprehensive treatment of the mission and technical aspects of an Earth-orbiting radio occultation satellite. Part 1 (chapters 1-6) describes mission concepts and programmatic information; Part 2 (chapters 7-12) deals with the theoretical aspects of analyzing and interpreting radio occultation measurements. In this mission concept the navigation signals from a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite that is being occulted by the Earth's limb are observed by a GPS flight receiver on board a low Earth orbiter (LEO) satellite. This technique can be used to recover profiles of the Earth's atmospheric refractivity, pressure, and temperature using small, dedicated, and relatively low-cost space systems. Chapter 2 summarizes the basic space system concepts of the limb-sounding technique and describes a low-cost strawman demonstration mission. Chapter 3 discusses some of the scientific benefits of using radio occultation on a suite of small satellites. Chapter 4 provides a more detailed discussion of several system elements in a radio occultation mission, including the launch system for small payloads, the LEO microsat, the GPS constellation, the GPS flight receiver payload, the mission operations ground control and data receiving system, the ground-based GPS global tracking network for precision orbit determination, and the central data processing and archive system. Chapter 5 addresses the various technology readiness questions that invariably arise. Chapter 6 discusses the overall costs of a demonstration mission such as GPS/MET (meteorological) proposed by the University Navstar Consortium (UNAVCO). Chapter 7 describes a geometrical optics approach to coplanar atmospheric occultation. Chapter 8 addresses major questions regarding accuracy of the occultation techniques. Chapter 9 describes some simulations that have been performed to evaluate the sensitivity of the recovered profiles of atmospheric parameters to different error sources, such as departure from spherical symmetry, water vapor, etc. Chapter 10 discusses horizontal and vertical resolution associated with limb sounders in general. Chapter 11 treats selected Fresnel diffraction techniques that can be used in radio occultation measurements to sharpen resolution. Chapter 12 provides brief discussions on selected special topics, such as strategies for handling interference and multipath processes that may arise for rays traveling in the lower troposphere