GNSS-based water vapor estimation and validation during the MOSAiC expedition ...

• Main Authors: Männel, Benjamin, Zus, Florian, Dick, Galina, Glaser, Susanne, Semmling, Maximilian, Balidakis, Kyriakos, Wickert, Jens, Maturilli, Marion, Dahlke, Sandro, Schuh, Harald
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Technische Universität Berlin 2021
• Subjects: 550 Geowissenschaften; MOSAiC expedition; Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate; Global Navigation Satellite System; GNSS; atmospheric water vapor; Arctic; Ny-Ålesund; Ny Ålesund
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-12414; https://depositonce.tu-berlin.de/handle/11303/13627

Within the transpolar drifting expedition MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) was used among other techniques to monitor variations in atmospheric water vapor. Based on 15 months of continuously tracked GNSS data including GPS, GLONASS and Galileo, epoch-wise coordinates and hourly zenith total delays (ZTDs) were determined using a kinematic precise point positioning (PPP) approach. The derived ZTD values agree to 1.1 ± 0.2 mm (root mean square (rms) of the differences 10.2 mm) with the numerical weather data of ECMWF's latest reanalysis, ERA5, computed for the derived ship's locations. This level of agreement is also confirmed by comparing the on-board estimates with ZTDs derived for terrestrial GNSS stations in Bremerhaven and Ny-Ålesund and for the radio telescopes observing very long baseline interferometry in Ny-Ålesund. Preliminary estimates of integrated water vapor derived from frequently launched radiosondes ...