scholarly journals Towards operational multi-GNSS tropospheric products at GFZ Potsdam

2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-39
Author(s):  
Karina Wilgan ◽  
Galina Dick ◽  
Florian Zus ◽  
Jens Wickert
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Three Solutions ◽  
Satellite Systems ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Preparation Step ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Gnss Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Comparable Quality

Abstract. The assimilation of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data has been proven to have a positive impact on weather forecasts. However, the impact is limited due to the fact that solely the zenith total delays (ZTDs) or integrated water vapor (IWV) derived from the GPS satellite constellation are utilized. Assimilation of more advanced products, such as slant total delays (STDs), from several satellite systems may lead to improved forecasts. This study shows a preparation step for the assimilation, i.e., the analysis of the multi-GNSS tropospheric advanced parameters: ZTDs, tropospheric gradients and STDs. Three solutions are taken into consideration: GPS-only, GPS–GLONASS (GR) and GPS–GLONASS–Galileo (GRE). The GNSS estimates are calculated using the operational EPOS.P8 software developed at GFZ. The ZTDs retrieved with this software are currently being operationally assimilated by weather services, while the STDs and tropospheric gradients are being tested for this purpose. The obtained parameters are compared with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA5 reanalysis. The results show that all three GNSS solutions show similar level of agreement with the ERA5 model. For ZTDs, the agreement with ERA5 results in biases of approx. 2 mm and standard deviations (SDs) of 8.5 mm. The statistics are slightly better for the GRE solution compared to the other solutions. For tropospheric gradients, the biases are negligible, and SDs are equal to approx. 0.4 mm. The statistics are almost identical for all three GNSS solutions. For STDs, the agreement from all three solutions is very similar; however it is slightly better for GPS only. The average bias with respect to ERA5 equals approx. 4 mm, with SDs of approx. 26 mm. The biases are only slightly reduced for the Galileo-only estimates from the GRE solution. This study shows that all systems provide data of comparable quality. However, the advantage of combining several GNSS systems in the operational data assimilation is the geometry improvement by adding more observations, especially for low elevation and azimuth angles.

scholarly journals Towards operational multi-GNSS tropospheric products at GFZ Potsdam

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Wilgan ◽  
Galina Dick ◽  
Florian Zus ◽  
Jens Wickert
Keyword(s):  
Positive Impact ◽  
Weather Forecast ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite Systems ◽  
Three Solutions ◽  
Satellite Systems ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Preparation Step ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The assimilation of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) data has been proven to have a positive impact on the weather forecasts. However, the impact is limited due to the fact that solely the Zenith Total Delays (ZTD) or Integrated Water Vapor (IWV) derived from the GPS satellite constellation are utilized. Assimilation of more advanced products, such as Slant Total Delays (STDs) from more satellite systems may lead to improved forecasts. This study shows a preparation step for the assimilation, i.e. the analysis of the multi-GNSS tropospheric advanced parameters: ZTDs, tropospheric gradients and STDs. Three solutions are taken into consideration: GPS-only, GPS/GLONASS (GR) and GPS/GLONASS/Galileo (GRE). The parameters are compared with two global Numerical Weather Models (NWM): European Centre for Medium Weather Forecast (ECMWF) ERA5 reanalysis and a forecast model ICON run by the German Weather Service. The results show that for ZTDs and horizontal gradients, all three GNSS solutions show similar level of agreement with the NWM data. For ZTDs, the agreement is better for the ERA5 model with biases of approx. 1.5 mm and standard deviations (SDs) of 7.7 mm than for ICON with biases of 3.2 mm and SDs of 10 mm. For tropospheric gradients, the agreement with both NWMs is very similar: the biases are negligible and SDs equal to approx. 0.4 mm. For the STDs, the GPS-only solution has an average bias w.r.t. ERA5 of 4.2 mm with SDs of 25.2 mm. The statistics are very slightly reduced for the GRE solution and further reduced to a bias of 3.5 mm with SDs of 24.5 mm for the Galileo-only observations. This study shows that all systems are of comparable quality. However, the advantage of combining more GNSS systems in the operational data assimilation is the geometry improvement by adding more observations, especially for low elevation angles.

scholarly journals An improved pixel-based water vapor tomography model

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-100
Author(s):  
Yibin Yao ◽  
Linyang Xin ◽  
Qingzhi Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Reference Station ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Satellite Positioning ◽  
Optimal Polynomial ◽  
Improved Model ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Gnss Data

Abstract. As an innovative use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), the GNSS water vapor tomography technique shows great potential in monitoring three-dimensional water vapor variation. Most of the previous studies employ the pixel-based method, i.e., dividing the troposphere space into finite voxels and considering water vapor in each voxel as constant. However, this method cannot reflect the variations in voxels and breaks the continuity of the troposphere. Moreover, in the pixel-based method, each voxel needs a parameter to represent the water vapor density, which means that huge numbers of parameters are needed to represent the water vapor field when the interested area is large and/or the expected resolution is high. In order to overcome the abovementioned problems, in this study, we propose an improved pixel-based water vapor tomography model, which uses layered optimal polynomial functions obtained from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) by adaptive training for water vapor retrieval. Tomography experiments were carried out using the GNSS data collected from the Hong Kong Satellite Positioning Reference Station Network (SatRef) from 25 March to 25 April 2014 under different scenarios. The tomographic results are compared to the ECMWF data and validated by the radiosonde. Results show that the new model outperforms the traditional one by reducing the root-mean-square error (RMSE), and this improvement is more pronounced, at 5.88 % in voxels without the penetration of GNSS rays. The improved model also has advantages in more convenient expression.

scholarly journals Integrated water vapour content retrievals from ship-borne GNSS receivers during EUREC<sup>4</sup>A

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1499-1517
Author(s):  
Pierre Bosser ◽  
Olivier Bock ◽  
Cyrille Flamant ◽  
Sandrine Bony ◽  
Sabrina Speich
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapour ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Water Vapour Content ◽  
Weather Forecasts ◽  
Integrated Water Vapour ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽  
Gnss Measurements ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Gnss Data

Abstract. In the framework of the EUREC4A (Elucidating the role of clouds–circulation coupling in climate) campaign that took place in January and February 2020, integrated water vapour (IWV) contents were retrieved over the open tropical Atlantic Ocean using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data acquired from three research vessels (R/Vs): R/V Atalante, R/V Maria S. Merian and R/V Meteor. This paper describes the GNSS processing method and compares the GNSS IWV retrievals with IWV estimates from the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) fifth reanalysis (ERA5), from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) infrared products and from terrestrial GNSS stations located along the tracks of the ships. The ship-borne GNSS IWV retrievals from R/V Atalante and R/V Meteor compare well with ERA5, with small biases (−1.62 kg m−2 for R/V Atalante and +0.65 kg m−2 for R/V Meteor) and a root mean square (rms) difference of about 2.3 kg m−2. The results for the R/V Maria S. Merian are found to be of poorer quality, with an rms difference of 6 kg m−2, which is very likely due to the location of the GNSS antenna on this R/V prone to multipath effects. The comparisons with ground-based GNSS data confirm these results. The comparisons of all three R/V IWV retrievals with MODIS infrared products show large rms differences of 5–7 kg m−2, reflecting the enhanced uncertainties in these satellite products in the tropics. These ship-borne IWV retrievals are intended to be used for the description and understanding of meteorological phenomena that occurred during the campaign, east of Barbados, Guyana and northern Brazil. Both the raw GNSS measurements and the IWV estimates are available through the AERIS data centre (https://en.aeris-data.fr/, last access: 20 September 2020). The digital object identifiers (DOIs) for R/V Atalante IWV and raw datasets are https://doi.org/10.25326/71 (Bosser et al., 2020a) and https://doi.org/10.25326/74 (Bosser et al., 2020d), respectively. The DOIs for the R/V Maria S. Merian IWV and raw datasets are https://doi.org/10.25326/72 (Bosser et al., 2020b) and https://doi.org/10.25326/75 (Bosser et al., 2020e), respectively. The DOIs for the R/V Meteor IWV and raw datasets are https://doi.org/10.25326/73 (Bosser et al., 2020c) and https://doi.org/10.25326/76 (Bosser et al., 2020f), respectively.

scholarly journals Use of Microwave Radiances from Metop-C and Fengyun-3 C/D Satellites for a Northern European Limited-area Data Assimilation System

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Lindskog ◽  
Adam Dybbroe ◽  
Roger Randriamampianina
Keyword(s):  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Microwave Radiances ◽  
Data Assimilation System ◽  
Assimilation System

AbstractMetCoOp is a Nordic collaboration on operational Numerical Weather Prediction based on a common limited-area km-scale ensemble system. The initial states are produced using a 3-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme utilizing a large amount of observations from conventional in-situ measurements, weather radars, global navigation satellite system, advanced scatterometer data and satellite radiances from various satellite platforms. A version of the forecasting system which is aimed for future operations has been prepared for an enhanced assimilation of microwave radiances. This enhanced data assimilation system will use radiances from the Microwave Humidity Sounder, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A and the Micro-Wave Humidity Sounder-2 instruments on-board the Metop-C and Fengyun-3 C/D polar orbiting satellites. The implementation process includes channel selection, set-up of an adaptive bias correction procedure, and careful monitoring of data usage and quality control of observations. The benefit of the additional microwave observations in terms of data coverage and impact on analyses, as derived using the degree of freedom of signal approach, is demonstrated. A positive impact on forecast quality is shown, and the effect on the precipitation for a case study is examined. Finally, the role of enhanced data assimilation techniques and adaptions towards nowcasting are discussed.

scholarly journals Measurement of the Sea Surface Height with Airborne GNSS Reflectometry and Delay Bias Calibration

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3014
Author(s):  
Feng Wang ◽  
Dongkai Yang ◽  
Guodong Zhang ◽  
Jin Xing ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Arrival Time ◽  
Elevation Angle ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Sea Surface Height ◽  
Antenna Pattern ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Observation Method ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Impact

Sea surface height can be measured with the delay between reflected and direct global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals. The arrival time of a feature point, such as the waveform peak, the peak of the derivative waveform, and the fraction of the peak waveform is not the true arrival time of the specular signal; there is a bias between them. This paper aims to analyze and calibrate the bias to improve the accuracy of sea surface height measured by using the reflected signals of GPS CA, Galileo E1b and BeiDou B1I. First, the influencing factors of the delay bias, including the elevation angle, receiver height, wind speed, pseudorandom noise (PRN) code of GPS CA, Galileo E1b and BeiDou B1I, and the down-looking antenna pattern are explored based on the Z-V model. The results show that (1) with increasing elevation angle, receiver height, and wind speed, the delay bias tends to decrease; (2) the impact of the PRN code is uncoupled from the elevation angle, receiver height, and wind speed, so the delay biases of Galileo E1b and BeiDou B1I can be derived from that of GPS CA by multiplication by the constants 0.32 and 0.54, respectively; and (3) the influence of the down-looking antenna pattern on the delay bias is lower than 1 m, which is less than that of other factors; hence, the effect of the down-looking antenna pattern is ignored in this paper. Second, an analytical model and a neural network are proposed based on the assumption that the influence of all factors on the delay bias are uncoupled and coupled, respectively, to calibrate the delay bias. The results of the simulation and experiment show that compared to the meter-level bias before the calibration, the calibrated bias decreases the decimeter level. Based on the fact that the specular points of several satellites are visible to the down-looking antenna, the multi-observation method is proposed to calibrate the bias for the case of unknown wind speed, and the same calibration results can be obtained when the proper combination of satellites is selected.

Study the Effect of Radio Interference of the EHV Transmission Line on GNSS Signals

2013 ◽  
Vol 805-806 ◽  
pp. 851-854
Author(s):  
Zhi Ge Jia ◽  
Zhao Sheng Nie ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Xiao Guan ◽  
Di Jin Wang
Keyword(s):  
Transmission Line ◽  
Transmission Lines ◽  
Internal Noise ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Field Analysis ◽  
Radio Interference ◽  
Gnss Receiver ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Gnss Data

This work describes the field testing process of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver under 220KV, 500KV UHV transmission line and standard calibration field. Analysis for GNSS data results shows that the radio interference generated by EHV transmission lines have no effect on GNSS receiver internal noise levels and valid GNSS observation rate. Within 50 meters of the EHV transmission lines, the multi-path effects (mp1 and mp2 value) significantly exceeded the normal range and becomes larger with the increase of the voltage .outside 50 meters of the EHV transmission line, the multi-path effects have almost no effect on the high-precision GNSS observations.

scholarly journals GNSS-Assisted Integrated Sensor Orientation with Sensor Pre-Calibration for Accurate Corridor Mapping

Sensors ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 2783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yilin Zhou ◽  
Ewelina Rupnik ◽  
Paul-Henri Faure ◽  
Marc Pierrot-Deseilligny
Keyword(s):  
Satellite System ◽  
Sensor Calibration ◽  
Image Block ◽  
Integrated Sensor ◽  
Physical Constraints ◽  
Pose Determination ◽  
Sensor Orientation ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
Oblique Images ◽  
The Impact

With the development of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and global navigation satellite system (GNSS), the accurate camera positions at exposure can be known and the GNSS-assisted bundle block adjustment (BBA) approach is possible for integrated sensor orientation (ISO). This study employed ISO approach for camera pose determination with the objective of investigating the impact of a good sensor pre-calibration on a poor acquisition geometry. Within the presented works, several flights were conducted on a dike by a small UAV embedded with a metric camera and a GNSS receiver. The multi-lever-arm estimation within the BBA procedure makes it possible to merge image blocks of different configurations such as nadir and oblique images without physical constraints on camera and GNSS antenna positions. The merged image block achieves a better accuracy and the sensor self-calibrated well. The issued sensor calibration is then applied to a less preferable acquisition configuration and the accuracy is significantly improved. For a corridor acquisition scene of about 600 m , a centimetric accuracy is reached with one GCP. With the provided sensor pre-calibration, an accuracy of 3.9 c m is achieved without any GCP.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Cutting Performance of a Robot Mower Using Custom Built Software

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Martelloni ◽  
Marco Fontanelli ◽  
Stefano Pieri ◽  
Christian Frasconi ◽  
Lisa Caturegli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite Systems ◽  
Forward Speed ◽  
Satellite Systems ◽  
Different Shapes ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
High Level ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Gnss Data ◽  
Collection And Management

Before the introduction of positioning technologies in agriculture practices such as global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), data collection and management were time-consuming and labor-intensive tasks. Today, due to the introduction of advanced technologies, precise information on the performance of agricultural machines, and smaller autonomous vehicles such as robot mowers, can be collected in a relatively short time. The aim of this work was to track the performance of a robot mower in various turfgrass areas of an equal number of square meters but with four different shapes by using real-time kinematic (RTK)-GNSS devices, and to easily extract data by a custom built software capable of calculating the distance travelled by the robot mower, the forward speed, the cutting area, and the number of intersections of the trajectories. These data were then analyzed in order to provide useful functioning information for manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and practitioners. The path planning of the robot mower was random and the turfgrass area for each of the four shapes was 135 m2 without obstacles. The distance travelled by the robot mower, the mean forward speed, and the intersections of the trajectories were affected by the interaction between the time of cutting and the shape of the turfgrass. For all the different shapes, the whole turfgrass area was completely cut after two hours of mowing. The cutting efficiency decreased by increasing the time, as a consequence of the increase in overlaps. After 75 minutes of cutting, the efficiency was about 35% in all the turfgrass areas shapes, thus indicating a high level of overlapping.

scholarly journals Terrain changes from images acquired on opportunistic flights by SfM photogrammetry

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 827-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc Girod ◽  
Christopher Nuth ◽  
Andreas Kääb ◽  
Bernd Etzelmüller ◽  
Jack Kohler
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Light Transport ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Accuracy And Precision ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Gnss Data

Abstract. Acquiring data to analyse change in topography is often a costly endeavour requiring either extensive, potentially risky, fieldwork and/or expensive equipment or commercial data. Bringing the cost down while keeping the precision and accuracy has been a focus in geoscience in recent years. Structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetric techniques are emerging as powerful tools for surveying, with modern algorithm and large computing power allowing for the production of accurate and detailed data from low-cost, informal surveys. The high spatial and temporal resolution permits the monitoring of geomorphological features undergoing relatively rapid change, such as glaciers, moraines, or landslides. We present a method that takes advantage of light-transport flights conducting other missions to opportunistically collect imagery for geomorphological analysis. We test and validate an approach in which we attach a consumer-grade camera and a simple code-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver to a helicopter to collect data when the flight path covers an area of interest. Our method is based and builds upon Welty et al. (2013), showing the ability to link GNSS data to images without a complex physical or electronic link, even with imprecise camera clocks and irregular time lapses. As a proof of concept, we conducted two test surveys, in September 2014 and 2015, over the glacier Midtre Lovénbreen and its forefield, in northwestern Svalbard. We were able to derive elevation change estimates comparable to in situ mass balance stake measurements. The accuracy and precision of our DEMs allow detection and analysis of a number of processes in the proglacial area, including the presence of thermokarst and the evolution of water channels.

scholarly journals Georeferencing of Laser Scanner-Based Kinematic Multi-Sensor Systems in the Context of Iterated Extended Kalman Filters Using Geometrical Constraints

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 2280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sören Vogel ◽  
Hamza Alkhatib ◽  
Johannes Bureick ◽  
Rozhin Moftizadeh ◽  
Ingo Neumann
Keyword(s):  
State Constraints ◽  
Laser Scanner ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Sensor Systems ◽  
Measurement Models ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Geometrical Constraints ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite ◽  
The Impact

Georeferencing is an indispensable necessity regarding operating with kinematic multi-sensor systems (MSS) in various indoor and outdoor areas. Information from object space combined with various types of prior information (e.g., geometrical constraints) are beneficial especially in challenging environments where common solutions for pose estimation (e.g., global navigation satellite system or external tracking by a total station) are inapplicable, unreliable or inaccurate. Consequently, an iterated extended Kalman filter is used and a general georeferencing approach by means of recursive state estimation is introduced. This approach is open to several types of observation inputs and can deal with (non)linear systems and measurement models. The capability of using both explicit and implicit formulations of the relation between states and observations, and the consideration of (non)linear equality and inequality state constraints is a special feature. The framework presented is evaluated by an indoor kinematic MSS based on a terrestrial laser scanner. The focus here is on the impact of several different combinations of applied state constraints and the dependencies of two classes of inertial measurement units (IMU). The results presented are based on real measurement data combined with simulated IMU measurements.

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