Sensing atmospheric water vapor with the global positioning system
Rocken, C., Ware, R., Van Hove, T., Solheim, F., Alber, C., Johnson, J., … Businger, S. (1993). Sensing atmospheric water vapor with the global positioning system. Geophysical Research Letters, 20, 2631-2634. doi:10.1029/93GL02935
Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, water vapor radiometers (WVRs), and surface meteorological equipment were operated at both ends of a 50-km baseline in Colorado to measure the precipitable water vapor (PWV) and wet delay in the line-of-sight to GPS satellites. Using high precision orbit... Show moreGlobal Positioning System (GPS) receivers, water vapor radiometers (WVRs), and surface meteorological equipment were operated at both ends of a 50-km baseline in Colorado to measure the precipitable water vapor (PWV) and wet delay in the line-of-sight to GPS satellites. Using high precision orbits, WVR-measured and GPS-inferred PWV differences between the two sites usually agreed to better than 1 mm. Using less precise on-line broadcast orbits increased the discrepancy by 30%. Data simulations show that GPS measurements can provide mm-level separate PWV estimates for the two sites, as opposed to just their difference, if baselines exceed 500 km and the highest accuracy GPS orbits are used. Show less
