scholarly journals Evaluation of Zenith Tropospheric Delay Derived from Ray-Traced VMF3 Product over the West African Region Using GNSS Observations

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Samuel Osah ◽  
Akwasi A. Acheampong ◽  
Collins Fosu ◽  
Isaac Dadzie

The growing demand for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology has necessitated the establishment of a vast and ever-growing network of International GNSS Service (IGS) tracking stations worldwide. The IGS provides highly accurate and highly reliable daily time-series Zenith Tropospheric Delay (ZTD) products using data from the member sites towards the use of GNSS for precise geodetic, climatological, and meteorological applications. However, if for reasons like poor internet connectivity, equipment failure, and power outages, the IGS station is inaccessible or malfunctioning, and gaps are created in the data archive resulting in degrading the quality of the ZTD and precipitable water vapour (PWV) estimation. To address this challenge as a means of providing an alternative data source to improve the continuous availability of ZTD data and as a backup data in the event that the IGS site data are missing or unavailable in West Africa, this paper compares the sitewise operational Vienna Mapping Functions 3 (VMF3) ZTD product with the IGS final ZTD product over five IGS stations in West Africa. Eight different statistical evaluation metrics, such as the mean bias (MB), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), Pearson correlation coefficient (r), coefficient of determination (r2), refined index of agreement (IAr), Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (NSE), and the fraction of prediction within a factor of two (FAC2), are employed to determine the degree of agreement between the VMF3 and IGS tropospheric products. The results show that the VMF3-ZTD product performed excellently and matches very well with the IGS final ZTD product with an average MB, MAE, RMSE, r, r2, NSE, IAr, and FAC2 of 0.38 cm, 0.87 cm, 1.11 cm, 0.988, 0.976, 0.967, 0.992, and 1.00 (100%), respectively. This result is an indication that the VMF3-ZTD product is accurate enough to be used as an alternative source of ZTD data to augment the IGS final ZTD product for positioning and meteorological applications in West Africa.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisuke Miyamori ◽  
Takeshi Uemura ◽  
Wenliang Zhu ◽  
Kei Fujikawa ◽  
Takaaki Nakaya ◽  
...  

AbstractThe recent increase of the number of unidentified cadavers has become a serious problem throughout the world. As a simple and objective method for age estimation, we attempted to utilize Raman spectrometry for forensic identification. Raman spectroscopy is an optical-based vibrational spectroscopic technique that provides detailed information regarding a sample’s molecular composition and structures. Building upon our previous proof-of-concept study, we measured the Raman spectra of abdominal skin samples from 132 autopsy cases and the protein-folding intensity ratio, RPF, defined as the ratio between the Raman signals from a random coil an α-helix. There was a strong negative correlation between age and RPF with a Pearson correlation coefficient of r = 0.878. Four models, based on linear (RPF), squared (RPF2), sex, and RPF by sex interaction terms, were examined. The results of cross validation suggested that the second model including linear and squared terms was the best model with the lowest root mean squared error (11.3 years of age) and the highest coefficient of determination (0.743). Our results indicate that the there was a high correlation between the age and RPF and the Raman biological clock of protein folding can be used as a simple and objective forensic age estimation method for unidentified cadavers.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
YiBin Yao ◽  
YuFeng Hu ◽  
Chen Yu ◽  
Bao Zhang ◽  
JianJian Guo

Abstract. The zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) is an important atmospheric parameter in the wide application of GNSS technology in geoscience. Given that the temporal resolution of the current Global Zenith Tropospheric Delay model (GZTD) is only 24 h, an improved model GZTD2 has been developed by taking the diurnal variations into consideration and modifying the model expansion function. The data set used to establish this model is the global ZTD grid data provided by Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) Atmosphere spanning from 2002 to 2009. We validated the proposed model with respect to ZTD grid data from GGOS Atmosphere, which was not involved in modeling, as well as International GNSS Service (IGS) tropospheric product. The obtained results of ZTD grid data show that the global average Bias and RMS for GZTD2 model are 0.2 cm and 3.8 cm respectively. The global average Bias is comparable to that of GZTD model, but the global average RMS is improved by 3 mm. The Bias and RMS are far better than EGNOS model and the UNB series models. The testing results from global IGS tropospheric product show the Bias and RMS (−0.3 cm and 3.9 cm) of GZTD2 model are superior to that of GZTD (−0.3 cm and 4.2 cm), suggesting higher accuracy and reliability compared to the EGNOS model, as well as the UNB series models.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1283
Author(s):  
Ronald Opio ◽  
Isaac Mugume ◽  
Joyce Nakatumba-Nabende

The atmospheric chemistry constituents of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) are associated with air pollution and climate change. In sub-Saharan Africa, a lack of sufficient ground-based and aircraft observations has, for a long time, limited the study of these species. This study thus utilized satellite observations as an alternative source of data to study the abundance of these species over the East African region. The instruments used included the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS), and the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI). An investigation of trends in the data series from 2005 to 2020 was carried out using the sequential Mann-Kendall test while the Pearson correlation coefficient was used to compare the data records of the instruments. The analysis revealed no trend in NO2 (p > 0.05), a decreasing trend in SO2 (p < 0.05), a decreasing trend (p < 0.05) in CO closer to the surface (850 hPa to 500 hPa) and an increasing trend (p < 0.05) in CO higher up in the atmosphere (400 hPa to 1 hPa). There is likely a vertical ascent of CO. The correlation between the instrument records was 0.54 and 0.77 for NO2 and CO, respectively. Furthermore, seasonal fires in the savanna woodlands were identified as the major source of NO2 and CO over the region, while cities such as Kampala, Nairobi, and Bujumbura and towns such as Dar es Salaam and Mombasa were identified as important NO2 hotspots. Similarly, the active volcano at Mt. Nyiragongo near Goma was identified as the most important SO2 hotspot.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-47
Author(s):  
A. Acheampong ◽  
K. Obeng

Abstract Atmospheric water vapour, a major component in weather systems serves as the main source for precipitation, provides latent heat which helps maintain the earth’s energy balance and a major parameter in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. An observational technique based on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has made it possible to easily retrieve Precipitable Water (PW) at station’s antenna position with very high spatial and temporal variabilities. GNSS techniques are superior to ground-based and balloons sensors in terms of accuracy, ease of use, wider coverage and easier assimilation into NWP models. This study sought to use prediction models using daily observational data from Four (4) International GNSS Service stations in West Africa. The best prediction model can be used in cases of station outages and to predict PW over data poor regions using computed Zenith Tropospheric Delays (ZTD). gLAB software was used to process the stations’ data in Precise Point Positioning mode and PW were retrieved using station’s temperature and pressure values. Computed PW were compared against Total Column Water Vapour from ERA-Interim Reanalysis data in 2016. Correlation coefficient (R2) values ranging from 0.947 — 0.995 were obtained for the four stations. With computed PW’s, three regression models were tested to find the best-fit with PW as the dependent variable and ZTD being the independent variable. The quadratic model gave the highest R2 and lowest RMSE values as against the linear and exponential models. Time series forecasts models such as moving average, autoregressive, exponential smoothing and autoregressive integrated moving average were also employed. The forecasts results were compared against ZTD with autoregressive model reporting the highest R2 and lowest RMSE amongst the forecast models developed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-184
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abdelazeem ◽  
Ahmed El-Rabbany

AbstractThis study assesses the precision of zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) obtained through triple-constellation global navigation satellite system (GNSS) precise point positioning (PPP). Various ZTD estimates are obtained as by-products from GPS-only, GPS/Galileo, GPS/BeiDou, and triple-constellation GPS/Galileo/BeiDou PPP solutions. Triple-constellation GNSS observations from a number of globally distributed reference stations are processed over a period of seven days in order to investigate the daily performance of the ZTD estimates. The estimated ZTDs are then validated by comparing them with the International GNSS Service (IGS) tropospheric products and the University of New Brunswick (UNB3m) model counterparts. It is shown that the ZTD estimates agree with the IGS counterparts with a maximum standard deviation (STD) of 2.4 cm. It is also shown that the precision of estimated ZTD from the GPS/Galileo and GPS/Galileo/BeiDou PPP solutions is improved by about 4.5 and 14%, respectively, with respect to the GPS-only PPP solution. Moreover, it is found that the estimated ZTD agrees with the UNB3m model with a maximum STD of 3.1 cm. Furthermore, the GPS/Galileo and GPS/Galileo/BeiDou PPP enhance the precision of the ZTD estimates by about 6.5 and 10%, respectively, in comparison with the GPS-only PPP solution.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisuke Miyamori ◽  
Takeshi Uemura ◽  
Wenliang Zhu ◽  
Kei Fujikawa ◽  
Satoshi Teramukai ◽  
...  

Abstract The recent increase of the number of unidentified cadavers has become a serious problem in the world. As a simple and objective method for age estimation, we attempted to utilize Raman spectrometry for forensic identification. Raman spectroscopy is an optical-based vibrational spectroscopic technique that provides detailed information about molecular composition and structure. Building upon our previous proof-of-concept study, Raman spectra of abdominal skin sample were measured in 132 autopsy cases and protein-folding intensity ratio (RPF) was calculated. There was a strong negative correlation between age and RPF with a Pearson correlation coefficient r = 0.878. The results of cross validation suggested that Model 2 (the square of RPF) is the best model with lowest mean squared error (127.9) and highest coefficient of determination (0.743) among the four models. Our results indicate that the there is a high correlation between the age and RPF. The Raman biological clock of protein folding can be used as a simple and objective forensic age estimation method of unidentified cadavers.


Author(s):  
Devi Munandar

This paper investigates the ability of Discrete Wavelet Transform and Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System in time-series data modeling of weather parameters. Plotting predicted data results on Linear Regression is used as the baseline of the statistical model. Data were tested in every 10 minutes interval on weather station of Bungus port in Padang, Indonesia. Mean absolute errors (MAE), the coefficient of determination (R2), Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and root mean squared error (RMSE) are used as performance indicators. The result of Plotting ANFIS data against linear regression using 1-input data is the optimal values combination of output predictions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junwen Tao ◽  
Yue Ma ◽  
Xuefei Zhuang ◽  
Qiang Lv ◽  
Yaqiong Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract This study proposed a novel ensemble analysis strategy to improve hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) prediction by integrating environmental data. The approach began by establishing a vector autoregressive model (VAR). Then, a dynamic Bayesian networks (DBN) model was used for variable selection of environmental factors. Finally, a VAR model with constraints (CVAR) was established for predicting the incidence of HFMD in Chengdu city from 2011 to 2017. DBN showed that temperature was related to HFMD at lags 1 and 2. Humidity, wind speed, sunshine, PM10, SO2 and NO2 were related to HFMD at lag 2. Compared with the autoregressive integrated moving average model with external variables (ARIMAX), the CVAR model had a higher coefficient of determination (R2, average difference: + 2.11%; t = 6.2051, P = 0.0003 < 0.05), a lower root mean-squared error (−24.88%; t = −5.2898, P = 0.0007 < 0.05) and a lower mean absolute percentage error (−16.69%; t = −4.3647, P = 0.0024 < 0.05). The accuracy of predicting the time-series shape was 88.16% for the CVAR model and 86.41% for ARIMAX. The CVAR model performed better in terms of variable selection, model interpretation and prediction. Therefore, it could be used by health authorities to identify potential HFMD outbreaks and develop disease control measures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 438
Author(s):  
Subrina Tahsin ◽  
Stephen C. Medeiros ◽  
Arvind Singh

Long-term monthly coastal wetland vegetation monitoring is the key to quantifying the effects of natural and anthropogenic events, such as severe storms, as well as assessing restoration efforts. Remote sensing data products such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), alongside emerging data analysis techniques, have enabled broader investigations into their dynamics at monthly to decadal time scales. However, NDVI data suffer from cloud contamination making periods within the time series sparse and often unusable during meteorologically active seasons. This paper proposes a virtual constellation for NDVI consisting of the red and near-infrared bands of Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager, Sentinel-2A Multi-Spectral Instrument, and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer. The virtual constellation uses time-space-spectrum relationships from 2014 to 2018 and a random forest to produce synthetic NDVI imagery rectified to Landsat 8 format. Over the sample coverage area near Apalachicola, Florida, USA, the synthetic NDVI showed good visual coherence with observed Landsat 8 NDVI. Comparisons between the synthetic and observed NDVI showed Root Mean Squared Error and Coefficient of Determination (R2) values of 0.0020 sr−1 and 0.88, respectively. The results suggest that the virtual constellation was able to mitigate NDVI data loss due to clouds and may have the potential to do the same for other data. The ability to participate in a virtual constellation for a useful end product such as NDVI adds value to existing satellite missions and provides economic justification for future projects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3727
Author(s):  
Fatema Rahimi ◽  
Abolghasem Sadeghi-Niaraki ◽  
Mostafa Ghodousi ◽  
Soo-Mi Choi

During dangerous circumstances, knowledge about population distribution is essential for urban infrastructure architecture, policy-making, and urban planning with the best Spatial-temporal resolution. The spatial-temporal modeling of the population distribution of the case study was investigated in the present study. In this regard, the number of generated trips and absorbed trips using the taxis pick-up and drop-off location data was calculated first, and the census population was then allocated to each neighborhood. Finally, the Spatial-temporal distribution of the population was calculated using the developed model. In order to evaluate the model, a regression analysis between the census population and the predicted population for the time period between 21:00 to 23:00 was used. Based on the calculation of the number of generated and the absorbed trips, it showed a different spatial distribution for different hours in one day. The spatial pattern of the population distribution during the day was different from the population distribution during the night. The coefficient of determination of the regression analysis for the model (R2) was 0.9998, and the mean squared error was 10.78. The regression analysis showed that the model works well for the nighttime population at the neighborhood level, so the proposed model will be suitable for the day time population.


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