Abstract
Abstract. Using GPS satellites signals, we can study different processes and coupling mechanisms that can help us understand the physical conditions in the lower atmosphere, which might lead or act as proxies for severe weather events such as extreme storms and flooding. GPS signals received by ground stations are multi-purpose and can also provide estimates of tropospheric zenith delays, which can be converted into accurate integrated water vapor (IWV) observations using collocated pressure and temperature measurements on the ground. Here, we present for the first time the use of Israel's dense regional GPS network for extracting tropospheric zenith path delays combined with near-real-time Meteosat-10 water vapor (WV) and surface temperature pixel intensity values (7.3 and 10.8 µm channels, respectively) in order to assess whether it is possible to obtain absolute IWV (kg m−2) distribution. The results show good agreement between the absolute values obtained from our triangulation strategy based solely on GPS zenith total delays (ZTD) and Meteosat-10 surface temperature data compared with available radiosonde IWV absolute values. The presented strategy can provide high temporal and special IWV resolution, which is needed as part of the accurate and comprehensive observation data integrated in modern data assimilation systems and is required for increasing the accuracy of regional numerical weather prediction systems forecast.
Highlights
Water vapor (WV) is a greenhouse gas, which can lead to global warming
We argue that using GPS meteorology coupled with Meteosat surface temperature and WV interpolated data can produce adequate results for WV estimation for Israel for periods when the descending air in the subsidence inversion is rather dry and the absorption of radiation is low (i.e., the air is relatively transparent and allow radiation from lower layers to contribute to the signal, which results in high apparent brightness temperatures)
Mean and RMS values for the differences between the estimated integrated water vapor (IWV) based on the zenith total delays (ZTD) and Zenith hydrostatic delay (ZHD) values obtained from the IMS pressure and temperature measurements and radiosonde data are 1.062 and 1.66 mm, respectively, indicating that the estimated IWV using ZHD values from the Vienna Mapping Function 1 (VMF1) grid every 6 h has smaller bias and RMS errors
Summary
Water vapor (WV) is a greenhouse gas, which can lead to global warming. It repetitively cycles through evaporation and condensation phases, transporting heat energy around the Earth and between the surface and the atmosphere (Solomon et al, 2010). GNSS meteorology can provide continuous remote monitoring with high temporal and spatial resolution of the WV in the troposphere as long as the pressure and temperature are measured at the observation sites. We argue that using GPS meteorology coupled with Meteosat surface temperature and WV interpolated data can produce adequate results for WV estimation for Israel for periods when the descending air in the subsidence inversion is rather dry and the absorption (and emission) of radiation is low (i.e., the air is relatively transparent and allow radiation from lower (warmer) layers to contribute to the signal, which results in high apparent brightness temperatures). We present our results for estimating WV content around Israel and the Middle East area using different techniques, comparing their validity and choosing the best strategy for estimating WV distribution
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