Vertical Refractivity Profile Research Articles

Vertical Dependence of Refractive Index Structure Constant in Lowest Troposphere

Vertical profiles of atmospheric refractivity are indirectly measured at heights of up to 150 m above the ground using meteorological sensors located at 19 heights. The structure constant of the refractive index Cn is calculated from data measured over a one-year period using its definition relation. Linear regression in heights is applied to a structure constant vertical dependence to obtain single and joint annual statistics of the near ground value of Cn and of its vertical gradient in the lowest troposphere. Approximate probability models are given with Cn being log-normal and the vertical gradient normally distributed.

On the Uncertainty of Refractivity Height Profile Measurements

The standard uncertainty of indirect refractivity measurements gained from measurements of pressure, temperature, and humidity is discussed herein. The resulting uncertainty is derived theoretically, based on propagating uncertainties of meteorological sensors through a refractivity calculation, with an example of its impact on actual measurements of a vertical refractivity profile and its gradient also submitted.

Abel inversion for deriving refractivity profile from down-looking GPS radio occultation: simulation analysis

Down-looking (DL) Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation can produce an estimate of the atmospheric refractivity profile. The main observations are the bending angle as a function of the impact parameter. DL provides both negative as well as positive elevation angle measurements. Abel inversion can be operated on a profile of partial bending angle found by subtracting the positive elevation measurement from the negative one with the same impact parameter. Abel inversion requires the spherical symmetrical assumption. Basically, partial bending calculation removes the ionospheric bending and hence it is possible to use a single frequency GPS receiver. The current paper introduces a simulation data for the case of a receiver on mountain top. The simulation uses model refractivity from MSISE-90 model as well as radiosonde data. Random noises are added to the bending angle profile before inversion. The result shows that it is possible to produce accurate vertical refractivity profile below the receiver altitude. The calculation of the water vapor profile is also made using temperature profile information from the MSISE-90 model as well as radiosonde. The errors in the retrieved vapor profile are always less than 0.1 mbar.

Estimating the uncertainty of using GPS radio occultation data for climate monitoring: Intercomparison of CHAMP refractivity climate records from 2002 to 2006 from different data centers

To examine the suitability of GPS radio occultation (RO) observations as a climate benchmark data set, this study aims at quantifying the structural uncertainty in GPS RO‐derived vertical profiles of refractivity and measured refractivity trends obtained from atmospheric excess phase processing and inversion procedures. Five years (2002–2006) of monthly mean climatologies (MMC) of retrieved refractivity from the experiment aboard the German satellite CHAMP generated by four RO operational centers were compared. Results show that the absolute values of fractional refractivity anomalies among the centers are, in general, ≤0.2% from 8 to 25 km altitude. The median absolute deviations among the centers are less than 0.2% globally. Because the differences in fractional refractivity produced by the four centers are, in general, unchanging with time, the uncertainty of the trend for fractional refractivity anomalies among centers is ±0.04% per 5 years globally. The primary cause of the trend uncertainty is due to different quality control methods used by the four centers, which yield different sampling errors for different centers. We used the National Centers for Environmental Prediction reanalysis in the same period to estimate sampling errors. After removing the sampling errors, the uncertainty of the trend for fractional refractivity anomalies among centers is between −0.03 and 0.01% per 5 years. Thus 0.03% per 5 years can be considered an upper bound in the processing scheme–induced uncertainty for global refractivity trend monitoring. Systematic errors common to all centers are not discussed in this article but are generally believed to be small.

Modeling and Simulation of Notional Future Radar in Non‐Standard Propagation Environments Facilitated by Mesoscale Numerical Weather Prediction Modeling

AbstractNormal near surface radio‐frequency (RF) propagation in the littorals across the land–sea boundary is rare due to the land–sea temperature difference, coastline shape, ground cover, urban density, coastal topography, and soil moisture content. The resulting frequent existence of coastal non‐standard vertical profiles of refractivity and the resulting RF propagation has a profound impact on the performance of Navy ship‐borne radars operating within 100 nm of the shore. In addition, these non‐standard RF propagation conditions are spatio‐temporally inhomogeneous. These spatial and time dependent propagation conditions and the resulting radar engineering implications cannot be revealed by a single vertical profile of refractivity taken near the ship borne radar. The results from single profile analysis techniques provide no spatiotemporal information and may lead to overly conservative radar design. Mesoscale numerical weather prediction (NWP) is a rapidly maturing technology with a strong operational Navy history that can provide a vertical profile of refractivity every 1 km in the battle space and every hour, up to 48 h, in the future. The Sensor Division at NSWCDD has applied mesoscale NWP for the last 2 years to better understand the performance of prototype radar in realistic four‐dimensional (4D) coastal environments. Modern RF parabolic equation models are designed to model specific radar designs and to employ 3D refractivity fields from mesoscale NWP models. This allows for a radar design to be tested in realistic littoral non‐standard atmospheres produced by stable internal boundary layers, sea breeze events, and the more rare sub‐refractive events. Mesoscale NWP is currently qualitative for this purpose, but a research and development program focused on sea testing of prototype radars is described with the purpose of developing a more quantitative mesoscale NWP technology to support radar acquisition, testing, and operations.

Understanding the Atmosphere Through Radio Occultation: Second FORMOSAT‐3/COSMIC Data Users Workshop; Boulder, Colorado, 22–24 October 2007

The second FORMOSAT‐3/COSMIC data users workshop was held at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colo., and was attended by more than 100 international participants from a dozen countries around the world.COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate) is a joint Taiwan/U.S. mission consisting of six microsatellites, each carrying a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a tri‐band beacon to sense free electrons in the ionosphere via radio waves, and a Tiny Ionospheric Photometer to map ionospheric electron density via ultraviolet emission. The primary purpose of COSMIC is to demonstrate the value of radio occultation (RO) observations of the atmosphere to weather prediction, climate, and space weather. The RO technique produces a vertical profile of refractivity versus height in the ionosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere. This allows scientists to deduce valuable information on electron density, temperature, and water vapor in the atmosphere.

Troposphere Modeling in a Regional GPS Network

By using a regional network of Global Positioning System (GPS) reference stations, it is possible to recover estimates of the slant wet delay (SWD) to all GPS satellites in view. SWD observations can then be used to model the vertical and horizontal structure of water vapor over a local area, using a tomographic approach. The University of Calgary currently operates a regional GPS real-time network of 14 sites in southern Alberta. This network provides an excellent opportunity to study severe weather conditions (e.g. thunderstorms, hail, and tornados) which develop in the foothills of the Rockies near Calgary. In this paper, a 4-D tomographic water vapor model is tested using the regional GPS network. A field campaign was conducted during July 2003 to derive an extensive set of truth data from radiosonde soundings. Accuracies of tomographic water vapor retrieval techniques are evaluated for 1) using only ground-based GPS input, and 2) using a ground-based GPS solution augmented with vertical wet refractivity profiles derived from radiosondes released within the GPS network. Zenith wet delays (ZWD) are computed for both cases, by integrating through the 4-D tomography predictions, and these values are compared with truth ZWD derived from independent radiosonde measurements. Results indicate that ZWD may be modeled with accuracies at the sub-centimeter level using a ground-based GPS network augmented with vertical profile information. This represents an improvement over the GPS-only approach.

Analysis of atmospheric and ionospheric structures using the GPS/MET and CHAMP radio occultation database: a methodological review

Since 1995, the global positioning system (GPS) has been exploited by the means of the radio occultation (RO) method to obtain the vertical profiles of refractivity, temperature, pressure, and water vapor in the neutral atmosphere and electron density in the ionosphere. Applying the RO method to the study of the Earth’s atmosphere was demonstrated for the first time with the GPS/MET experiment. Since then, several satellites with GPS receivers, suitable for RO experiments, have been launched including Oersted, SUNSAT, CHAMP, SAC-C, and GRACE. Future RO investigations that are planned now include FORMOSAT3/COSMIC and Terra-SAR missions. New elements in the RO technology are required to meet the goals of improving the accuracy and broadening the potential of the RO method. In this paper, a methodological review of RO investigations is presented to emphasize new directions in applying the RO method: measuring the vertical gradients of the refractivity in the atmosphere and electron density in the lower ionosphere, determination of the temperature regime in the upper stratosphere, investigation of the internal wave activity in the atmosphere, and study of the ionospheric disturbances on a global scale. These new directions may be relevant for investigating the relationships between processes in the atmosphere and mesosphere, the study of thermal regimes in the intermediate heights of the upper stratosphere—lower mesosphere, and the analysis of the influence of the space weather phenomena on the lower ionosphere.

GPS radio occultation with CHAMP and GRACE: A first look at a new and promising satellite configuration for global atmospheric sounding

Abstract. CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) and GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) formed a satellite configuration for precise atmospheric sounding during the first activation of the GPS (Global Positioning System) radio occultation experiment aboard GRACE on 28 and 29 July 2004. 338 occultations were recorded aboard both satellites, providing globally distributed vertical profiles of refractivity, temperature and specific humidity. The combined set of CHAMP and GRACE profiles shows excellent agreement with meteorological analysis. Almost no refractivity bias is observed between 5 and 30km, the standard deviation is between 1 and 2% within this altitude interval. The GRACE satellite clock stability is significantly improved in comparison with CHAMP. This allows for the application of a zero difference technique for precise analysis of the GRACE occultation data.

Single frequency processing of atmospheric radio occultations

Tracking of the radio signals broadcast by the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites as they are occulted from a GPS receiver by the Earth's atmosphere can provide high resolution vertical profiles of atmospheric refractivity, temperature and water vapour. Most implementations of this radio occultation technique use two GPS frequencies to correct for ionospheric effects. However, during most soundings, one of the frequencies is degraded by the introduction of the so-called Anti-Spoofing (AS) encryption mode. A retrieval method is discussed in this work for periods when only one of the two frequency signals has good quality. This method uses only the frequency with higher signal-to-noise ratio. We illustrate the quality of the atmospheric profiles obtained from such single frequency retrievals using GPS/MET data from the periods where the AS was turned off and the two frequencies were available. The results enable us to ensure the quality of a climate record of thousands of radio occultations collected by GPS/MET during the period with AS encryption, and the data processing of future missions with similar constraints, like IOX, can be performed.

The Radio Occultation Experiment aboard CHAMP: Operational Data Analysis and Validation of Vertical Atmospheric Profiles

The operational data analysis of the GPS radio occultation experiment aboard the German CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) satellite mission is described. Continuous Near-Real-Time processing with average time delay of ∼5 hours between measurement and provision of analysis results is demonstrated. A delay of less than 3 hours is reached for individual events. This is made possible by using an operationally operated ground infrastructure, consisting of a polar downlink station, a globally distributed fiducial GPS ground network, a precise orbit determination facility, an automated occultation processing system and an advanced data center (the Information System and Data Center at GFZ, ISDC). The infrastructure was installed within the CHAMP and the German GPS Atmosphere Sounding Project (GASP). More than 120,000 globally distributed occultation measurements were automatically analysed during 2001 and 2002. A set of∼46,000 vertical profiles of refractivity, temperature and water vapor is validated with meteorological analyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and data from the global radiosonde network. The mean temperature bias in relation to the analyses is less then 0.4 K between 10 and 35 km, the mean deviation of the refractivity is <0.5%. A height dependent standard deviation of ∼1 K at 10 km and ∼2 K at 30 km is observed. This result is confirmed by comparing ∼6,000 CHAMP occultations with corresponding radiosonde measurements. A negative bias of the refractivity in relation to the analyses up to ∼5% in the Tropics is found in the lower troposphere. It corresponds to mean meridional dry biases of the specific humidity up to ∼30%. It is shown, that the application of a heuristic retrieval method, based on the Canonical Transform method and the sliding spectral approach, reduces the refractivity bias on average by a factor of ∼2. The corresponding bias in the specific humidity is reduced by a factor of ∼3. In mid-latitudes almost no more refractivity bias out of the planetary boundary layer is observed. This is shown by a comparison of CHAMP refractivity and water vapor profiles with radiosonde data. More than 50,000 globally distributed electron density profiles were automatically derived during 2001/2002. A validation study including 1,004 comparisons with corresponding ionosonde data yields a bias of 0.18 MHz and 13.4 km for foF2 and hmF2 respectively. The standard deviation is 1.28 MHz (foF2) and 46.8 km (hmF2).

Accurate measurements of tropospheric effects in volcanic areas from SAR interferometry data: application to Sakurajima volcano (Japan)

The accuracy of surface deformation maps derived from DinSAR (differential interferomery synthetic aperture radar) in volcanic areas is limited by temporal variations of the vertical refractivity profile in the troposphere between the radar data acquisitions. Due to their dependence on altitude, such variations may produce topography-related fringes in the computed interferograms. The variations should be carefully estimated in a given area so that they can be discriminated with real ground deformation signals. In this paper, we present a clear example of tropospheric induced fringes (reaching up to 2.9 fringes over 1200 m), evidenced on Sakurajima volcano (Japan) from ERS-1 and ERS-2 data. The analysis of phase–altitude correlations based on network adjustments of the interferometric dataset leads to a simple linear model of the tropospheric excess path delay (with an rms accuracy of 0.4 cm) that might be used for further corrections. A more detailed investigation of these phase variations providing accurate measurements of linear and non-linear contributions of tropospheric effects is also presented and shows that tropospheric phase delays can be better modeled on Sakurajima with a non-linear model.

Atmospheric sounding using GPS radio occultation

This paper summarizes the radio occultation (RO) technique for remote sounding of the Earth’s atmosphere using the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites and GPS receivers on low-Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. As the LEO satellites rise and set with respect to the GPS satellites, the radio waves from the GPS satellites are refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere. Precise measurements of the bending angle of the radio waves are used to derive vertical profiles of atmospheric refractivity, which is a function of electron density in the ionosphere and temperature and water vapor in the stratosphere and troposphere.&#x0D; &#x0D; Results from the GPS/MET, CHAMP, and SAC-C RO missions are summarized, and examples of soundings are presented. Analysis of the CHAMP and SAC-C data indicates that approximately 45% of CHAMP and SAC-C retrieved radio occultation profiles reach below 1 km altitude, compared to only 35% for GPS/MET. All missions exhibit a negative refractivity bias in the lower troposphere of between 1% and 2% compared to NWP models. When constrained to the tropics, only about 20% of the CHAMP occultation profiles reach 1 km from the surface.&#x0D; &#x0D; Taiwan’s National Space Program Office (NSPO), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and many partners in the university community are developing COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate), a follow-on project for weather and climate, space weather, and geodetic science. COSMIC plans to launch six satellites in 2005. Each satellite will retrieve 400-500 daily profiles† of key ionospheric and atmospheric properties from the tracked GPS radio signals as they are occulted behind the Earth limb. The radio occultation sounding data from COSMIC will contribute significantly to atmospheric research, weather forecasting, and climate modeling.

Initial GPS radio occultation measurements of the ionosphere onboard CHAMP

The radio limb sounding or occultation technique is capable of deriving accurate vertical profiles of atmospheric refractivity. This has been shown by very promising results of the first active GPS limb sounding GPS/MET experiment on Microlab 1. In this paper we report early results of ionospheric radio occultation (IRO) measurements carried out onboard the German satellite mission CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) that contributes also to essential improvements of gravity and magnetic field models of the Earth. First radio occultation measurements of the ionosphere were carried out by CHAMP on 11 April 2001. Fortunately, ionospheric radio occultation measurements were switched on during the High Rate GPS/GLONASS measuring campaign (HIRAC) initiated by the International GPS Service (IGS) and supported by COST 271 activities. So a comprehensive analysis of coordinated measurements will be possible within COST 271 cooperation in the near future. The achieved accuracy of the retrieved electron density profiles is estimated by comparing them with independent ionosonde data.

GPS radio occupations coming of age: Spacecraft launches add two new instruments for climate monitoring

Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultations are active limb soundings that measure the time delay of a GPS signal propagating through the atmosphere. This time delay can be related to vertical profiles of atmospheric refractivity from which highly accurate profiles of geopotential height, temperature, pressure, and specific humidity are derived. With their global coverage, self‐calibrating nature, penetration through clouds, and high vertical resolution, atmospheric radio occultations are coming of age and hold great promise for weather prediction and climate monitoring.

Improved atmospheric mapping functions for VLBI and GPS

New mapping functions based on in situ meteorological parameters have been developed for calculating the radio path length through the atmosphere at elevations down to 3°. The hydrostatic component of the mapping function is related to the geopotential height of the 200 mb isobaric pressure level above the site and provides a factor of two improvement in accuracy and precision over previous hydrostatic mapping functions at mid-latitudes. The wet component of the mapping function is calculated from the vertical profile of wet refractivity at the site but will provide an improvement of only about twenty-five percent. However, since the effect of known errors in the hydrostatic mapping function dominates that from the wet component, except near the equator, implementation of these mapping functions should reduce the contribution of the atmosphere to errors in estimates by VLBI and GPS of both the vertical component of site position and the radio propagation delay due to water vapor in the atmosphere.

Improving the Abel inversion by adding ground GPS data to LEO radio occultations in ionospheric sounding

GPS radio occultations allow the sounding of the Earth's atmosphere (i.e. troposphere and ionosphere). The basic observable of this technique is the additional delay, due to the refractivity index, of a radio signal when passing through the atmosphere. This additional delay is proportional to the integrated refractivity, in such a way that we can obtain an estimation of the vertical refractivity profiles using observations at different elevation angles by solving an inverse problem. Traditionally, the solution of this inverse problem is obtained by using the Abel inversion algorithm assuming a refractivity index that only depends on the altitude. In this paper we present a modified Abel inversion algorithm for ionospheric sounding that overcomes the spherical symmetry assumption of the traditional Abel inversion algorithm. Processing a set of simulated data and 1 day of real data with this algorithm, a clear improvement over the traditional one can be obtained when comparing the derived critical frequencies with the ionosonde measurements. It is also shown that this improvement is sufficient to measure critical frequencies associated with the ionospheric E layer.

Inversions of radio occultation amplitude data

Radio occultation remote sensing of the Earth's atmosphere consists of satellite‐to‐satellite observations of phase and amplitude of radio waves that propagate through the atmosphere. The observed excess phase along with the positions and velocities of the satellites are inverted into bending angle as a function of impact parameter and then into vertical profiles of refractivity, pressure, and temperature in the neutral atmosphere, or into electron density in the ionosphere. The retrieved profiles are assigned to the perigee points of the sounding rays. Amplitude data are normally not used, except when solving diffraction back propagation problems. In this paper a simple method to utilize amplitude radio occultation data is discussed. Equations based on geometric optics are considered for the inversion of an amplitude into bending angle. These inversions do not require high coherence of radio waves or precise orbit determination, as with phase inversions, but they do require precise calibration of the amplitude. Even though amplitude inversions are not so precise as phase inversions, they may still be useful for a number of applications. When compared to phase inversions they allow the optimization of the filter bandwidth for phase inversions, the detection of multipath propagation, and the localization of electron density irregularities in the ionosphere. These applications are demonstrated by processing of the Global Positioning System/Meteorology (GPS/MET) radio‐occultation data collected onboard the satellite Microlab‐1.

A ray‐tracing operator and its adjoint for the use of GPS/MET refraction angle measurements

The development of small, high‐performance instruments to receive Global Positioning System (GPS) signals has created an opportunity for active remote sounding of the Earth's atmosphere by radio occultation techniques. A prototype demonstration of this capability has been provided by the GPS Meteorology (GPS/MET) experiment. Although it was shown that high vertical resolution profiles of atmospheric refractivity, temperature, and geopotential height of constant pressure levels can be derived from the GPS measurements, with high accuracy under many circumstances, many issues remain. These include the existence of multipath propagation, the ambiguity between water vapor and temperature in moist regions of the atmosphere, and the difficulty in retrieving an accurate refractivity profile from the GPS refraction angle measurements over regions where the horizontal gradient of the refractivity is large. The aim of this paper is to begin the development of a methodology for incorporating the GPS “raw” measurements (refraction angles) directly into numerical weather analysis and/or prediction systems in order to alleviate the above mentioned problems. First, a ray‐tracing observation operator that links the atmospheric state to the GPS refraction angle measurements is developed, the physics and numerics involved are described, and the simulated refraction angles, based on the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) global analysis, are compared with the observed GPS/MET refraction angle measurements. Second, the tangent linear and adjoint of the ray‐tracing operator are developed. These three operators are required for the direct use of GPS refraction angle measurements in a variational data analysis system. A single observation experiment reveals that the direct use of GPS refraction angles in a variational analysis causes changes in the temperature and specific humidity fields that are not limited to the occultation location but in an elongated band of ±300 km in its occultation plane. On σ‐levels, changes from the use of one GPS occultation occur in an area of about 600 km × 600 km large which is centered around the ray perigee point. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages are discussed for the use of the GPS refractivities versus refraction angles. Errors made by using local estimates of refractivity are also assessed.

GPS Sounding of the Atmosphere from Low Earth Orbit: Preliminary Results

Abstract This paper provides an overview of the methodology of and describes preliminary results from an experiment called GPS/MET (Global Positioning System/Meteorology), in which temperature soundings are obtained from a low Earth-orbiting satellite using the radio occultation technique. Launched into a circular orbit of about 750-km altitude and 70° inclination on 3 April 1995, a small research satellite, MicroLab 1, carried a laptop-sized radio receiver. Each time this receiver rises and sets relative to the 24 operational GPS satellites, the GPS radio waves transect successive layers of the atmosphere and are bent (refracted) by the atmosphere before they reach the receiver, causing a delay in the dual-frequency carrier phase observations sensed by the receiver. During this occultation, GPS limb sounding measurements are obtained from which vertical profiles of atmospheric refractivity can be computed. The refractivity is a function of pressure, temperature, and water vapor and thus provides informat...