Abstract
Abstract. Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) has provided continuous observations of the Earth's atmosphere since 2001 with global coverage, all-weather capability, and high accuracy and vertical resolution in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). Precise time measurements enable long-term stability but careful processing is needed. Here we provide climate-oriented atmospheric scientists with multicenter-based results on the long-term stability of RO climatological fields for trend studies. We quantify the structural uncertainty of atmospheric trends estimated from the RO record, which arises from current processing schemes of six international RO processing centers, DMI Copenhagen, EUM Darmstadt, GFZ Potsdam, JPL Pasadena, UCAR Boulder, and WEGC Graz. Monthly-mean zonal-mean fields of bending angle, refractivity, dry pressure, dry geopotential height, and dry temperature from the CHAMP mission are compared for September 2001 to September 2008. We find that structural uncertainty is lowest in the tropics and mid-latitudes (50° S to 50° N) from 8 km to 25 km for all inspected RO variables. In this region, the structural uncertainty in trends over 7 yr is <0.03% for bending angle, refractivity, and pressure, <3 m for geopotential height of pressure levels, and <0.06 K for temperature; low enough for detecting a climate change signal within about a decade. Larger structural uncertainty above about 25 km and at high latitudes is attributable to differences in the processing schemes, which undergo continuous improvements. Though current use of RO for reliable climate trend assessment is bound to 50° S to 50° N, our results show that quality, consistency, and reproducibility are favorable in the UTLS for the establishment of a climate benchmark record.
Highlights
Ocean ScienceThe need for accurate long-term observations of the Earth’s atmosphere for climate monitoring is commonly agreed upon and the scientific community undertakes strong efforts towards achieving this goal (Karl et al, 2006; Trenberth et al, 2007)
Fundamental climate data records are defined by the Global Climate Observing System programme (GCOS, 2010) as homogeneous records derived from a series of instruments with sufficient calibration and quality control
We quantified the structural uncertainty in trends based on radio occultation (RO) climate records from six international RO processing centers for the full set of RO atmospheric variables, including bending angle, refractivity, dry pressure, dry geopotential height, and dry temperature
Summary
The need for accurate long-term observations of the Earth’s atmosphere for climate monitoring is commonly agreed upon and the scientific community undertakes strong efforts towards achieving this goal (Karl et al, 2006; Trenberth et al, 2007). Requirements forSthoe lgideneEraatiornthof climate data sets (Ohring, 2007; GCOS, 2010) comprise long-term stability, reproducibility, global coverage, accuracy, resolution in Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. Fundamental climate data records are defined by the Global Climate Observing System programme (GCOS, 2010) as homogeneous records derived from a series of instruments with sufficient calibration and quality control. Observation requirements are defined for essential climate variables (ECVs) such as upper air temperature, including for this variable a resolution of 500 km horizontally, 0.5 km vertically in the upper troposphere, 1.5 km vertically in the lower stratosphere, and a root mean square (RMS) accuracy of
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