scholarly journals An investigation of seasonal temperature trends in the Antarctic using CHAMP GPS radio occultation data

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 511-525
Author(s):  
K. Zhang ◽  
E. Fu ◽  
D. Silcock ◽  
Y. Kuleshov
Keyword(s):  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Polar Regions ◽  
Temperature Profiles ◽  
Seasonal Temperature ◽  
Antarctic Region ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
Temperature Trends ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. GPS radio occultation (RO) has been recognized as an alternative atmospheric upper air observation technique due to its distinct features and technological merits. This technique is best used for meteorological studies in remote and/or difficult-to-access areas such as the Polar Regions. The CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) space mission has provided about eight years of high quality global coverage atmospheric profiles. This study first evaluates the accuracy of CHAMP RO retrieved temperature profiles in the Antarctic region by using radiosonde data. Different collocation criteria have been applied. The overall results show a good agreement between the two data sets. Utilizing seven completed years of CHAMP temperature profiles, the study then investigates seasonal temperature trends at 100 hPa and 500 hPa pressure levels in the Antarctic region. Detailed temperature variations in both spatial and temporal domains are revealed and their implications for climate change are discussed.

scholarly journals An investigation of atmospheric temperature profiles in the Australian region using collocated GPS radio occultation and radiosonde data

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
pp. 2087-2092 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Zhang ◽  
E. Fu ◽  
D. Silcock ◽  
Y. Wang ◽  
Y. Kuleshov
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Temperature Profiles ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
The One ◽  
Distinct Features ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. GPS radio occultation (RO) has been recognised as an alternative atmospheric upper air observation technique due to its distinct features and technological merits. The CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) RO satellite and FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate) RO constellation together have provided about ten years of high quality global coverage RO atmospheric profiles. This technique is best used for meteorological studies in the difficult-to-access areas such as deserts and oceans. To better understand and use RO data, effective quality assessment using independent radiosonde data and its associated collocation criteria used in tempo-spatial domain are important. This study compares GPS RO retrieved temperature profiles from both CHAMP (between May 2001 and October 2008) and FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (between July 2006 and December 2009) with radiosonde data from 38 Australian radiosonde stations. The overall results show a good agreement between the two data sets. Different collocation criteria within 3 h and 300 km between the profile pairs have been applied and the impact of these different collocation criteria on the evaluation results is found statistically insignificantly. The CHAMP and FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC temperature profiles have been evaluated at 16 different pressure levels and the differences between GPS RO and radiosonde at different levels of the atmosphere have been studied. The result shows that the mean temperature difference between radiosonde and CHAMP is 0.39 °C (with a standard deviation of 1.20 °C) and the one between radiosonde and FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC is 0.37 °C (with a standard deviation of 1.24 °C). Different collocation criteria have been applied and insignificant differences were identified amongst the results.

scholarly journals GPS radio occultation with CHAMP: monitoring of climate change parameters

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 7837-7857 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Schmidt ◽  
S. Heise ◽  
J. Wickert ◽  
G. Beyerle ◽  
C. Reigber
Keyword(s):  
Water Vapor ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Temperature Profiles ◽  
Satellite Mission ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
Temperature Bias ◽  
Retrieval Scheme ◽  
Data Source

Abstract. The Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) technique offers a valuable new data source for global and continuous monitoring of the Earth's atmosphere. Refractivity, temperature and water vapor profiles with high accuracy and vertical resolution can be derived from this method. The GPS RO technique requires no calibration, is not affected by clouds, aerosols or precipitation, and the occultations are almost uniformly distributed over the globe. In this paper the potential of GPS RO for monitoring of the temperature is demonstrated exemplarily for the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region using GPS RO data from the German CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload) satellite mission. In addition, results of a 1DVAR retrieval scheme to derive tropospheric water vapor profiles using ECMWF data as background will be discussed. CHAMP RO data are available since 2001 with up to 200 high resolution temperature profiles per day. The temperature bias between CHAMP temperature profiles and radiosonde data as well as ECMWF analyses is less than 0.5 K between 300–30 hPa. The CHAMP RO experiment generates the first long-term RO data set. Other satellite missions will follow (GRACE, TerraSAR-X, COSMIC, METOP) generating some thousand profiles of atmospheric parameters daily.

scholarly journals GPS Radio Occultation Data Assimilation in the AREM Regional Numerical Weather Prediction Model for Flood Forecasts

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Wei Cheng ◽  
Youping Xu ◽  
Zhiwu Deng ◽  
Chunli Gu
Keyword(s):  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Light Rain ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Occultation Data ◽  
Radio Occultation Data

Based on the Backward Four-Dimensional Variational Data Assimilation (Backward-4DVar) system with the Advanced Regional Eta-coordinate Model (AREM), which is capable of assimilating radio occultation data, a heavy rainfall case study is performed using GPS radio occultation (GPS RO) data and routine GTS data on July 5, 2007. The case study results indicate that the use of radio occultation data after quality control can improve the quality of the analysis to be similar to that of the observations and, thus, have a positive effect when improving 24-hour rainfall forecasts. Batch tests for 119 days from May to August during the flood season in 2009 show that only the use of GPS RO data can make positive improvements in both 24-hour and 48-hour regional rainfall forecasts and obtain a better B score for 24-hour forecasts and better TS score for 48-hour forecasts. When using radio occultation refractivity data and conventional radiosonde data, the results indicate that radio occultation refractivity data can achieve a better performance for 48-hour forecasts of light rain and heavy rain.

scholarly journals Analysis of vertical wave number spectrum of atmospheric gravity waves in the stratosphere using COSMIC GPS radio occultation data

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 1627-1636 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Tsuda ◽  
X. Lin ◽  
H. Hayashi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Temperature Fluctuations ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Wave Number ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Vertical Resolution ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation

Abstract. GPS radio occultation (RO) is characterized by high accuracy and excellent height resolution, which has great advantages in analyzing atmospheric structures including small-scale vertical fluctuations. The vertical resolution of the geometrical optics (GO) method in the stratosphere is about 1.5 km due to Fresnel radius limitations, but full spectrum inversion (FSI) can provide superior resolutions. We applied FSI to COSMIC GPS-RO profiles from ground level up to 30 km altitude, although basic retrieval at UCAR/CDAAC sets the sewing height from GO to FSI below the tropopause. We validated FSI temperature profiles with routine high-resolution radiosonde data in Malaysia and North America collected within 400 km and about 30 min of the GPS RO events. The average discrepancy at 10–30 km altitude was less than 0.5 K, and the bias was equivalent with the GO results. Using the FSI results, we analyzed the vertical wave number spectrum of normalized temperature fluctuations in the stratosphere at 20–30 km altitude, which exhibits good consistency with the model spectra of saturated gravity waves. We investigated the white noise floor that tends to appear at high wave numbers, and the substantial vertical resolution of the FSI method was estimated as about 100–200 m in the lower stratosphere. We also examined a criterion for the upper limit of the FSI profiles, beyond which bending angle perturbations due to system noises, etc., could exceed atmospheric excess phase fluctuations. We found that the FSI profiles can be used up to about 28 km in studies of temperature fluctuations with vertical wave lengths as short as 0.5 km.

scholarly journals A comparison of radiosonde and GPS radio occultation measurements with meteorological temperature analyses in the Antarctic vortex, 1998–2004

2007 ◽  
Vol 112 (D16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald E. Nedoluha ◽  
Jerome Alfred ◽  
Craig M. Benson ◽  
Karl W. Hoppel ◽  
Jens Wickert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
The Antarctic

scholarly journals Analysis of vertical wave number spectrum of atmospheric gravity waves in the stratosphere using COSMIC GPS radio occultation data

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 2071-2097
Author(s):  
T. Tsuda ◽  
X. Lin ◽  
H. Hayashi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Temperature Fluctuations ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Wave Number ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Vertical Resolution ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation

Abstract. GPS radio occultation (RO) is characterized by high accuracy and excellent height resolution, which has great advantages in analyzing atmospheric structures including small-scale vertical fluctuations. The vertical resolution of the geometrical optics (GO) method in the stratosphere is about 1.5 km due to Fresnel radius limitations, but full spectrum inversion (FSI) can provide superior resolutions. We applied FSI to COSMIC GPS-RO profiles from ground level up to 30 km altitude, although basic retrieval at UCAR/CDAAC sets the sewing height from GO to FSI below the tropopause. We validated FSI temperature profiles with routine high-resolution radiosonde data in Malaysia and North America collected within 400 km and about 30 min of the GPS RO events. The average discrepancy at 10–30 km altitude was less than 0.5 K, and the bias was equivalent with the GO results. Using the FSI results, we analyzed the vertical wave number spectrum of normalized temperature fluctuations in the stratosphere at 20–30 km altitude, which exhibits good consistency with the model spectra of saturated gravity waves. We investigated the white noise floor that tends to appear at high wave numbers, and the substantial vertical resolution of the FSI method was estimated as about 100–200 m in the lower stratosphere. We also examined a criterion for the upper limit of the FSI profiles, beyond which bending angle perturbations due to system noises, etc, could exceed atmospheric excess phase fluctuations. We found that the FSI profiles can be used up to about 28 km in studies of temperature fluctuations with vertical wave lengths as short as 0.5 km.

An Impact Assessment of GPS Radio Occultation Data on Prediction of a Rapidly Developing Cyclone over the Southern Ocean*

2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (11) ◽  
pp. 4187-4206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Ya Chen ◽  
Tae-Kwon Wee ◽  
Ying-Hwa Kuo ◽  
David H. Bromwich
Keyword(s):  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
The Other ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The impact of global positioning system (GPS) radio occultation (RO) data on an intense synoptic-scale storm that occurred over the Southern Ocean in December 2007 is evaluated, and a synoptic explanation of the assessed impact is offered. The impact is assessed by using the three-dimensional variational data assimilation scheme (3DVAR) of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model Data Assimilation system (WRFDA), and by comparing two experiments: one with and the other without assimilating the refractivity data from four different RO missions. Verifications indicate significant positive impacts of the RO data in various measures and parameters as well as in the track and intensity of the Antarctic cyclone. The analysis of the atmospheric processes underlying the impact shows that the assimilation of the RO data yields substantial improvements in the large-scale circulations that in turn control the development of the Antarctic storm. For instance, the RO data enhanced the strength of a 500-hPa trough over the Southern Ocean and prevented the katabatic flow near the coast of East Antarctica from an overintensification. This greatly influenced two low pressure systems of a comparable intensity, which later merged together and evolved into the major storm. The dominance of one low over the other in the merger dramatically changed the track, intensity, and structure of the merged storm. The assimilation of GPS RO data swapped the dominant low, leading to a remarkable improvement in the subsequent storm’s prediction.

scholarly journals Climate intercomparison of GPS radio occultation, RS90/92 radiosondes and GRUAN over 2002 to 2013

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 11735-11769
Author(s):  
F. Ladstädter ◽  
A. K. Steiner ◽  
M. Schwärz ◽  
G. Kirchengast
Keyword(s):  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Specific Humidity ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
High Vertical Resolution ◽  
Global Coverage

Abstract. Observations from the GPS radio occultation (GPSRO) satellite technique and from the newly established GCOS Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) are both candidates to serve as reference observations in the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). Such reference observations are key to decrease existing uncertainties in upper-air climate research. There are now more than 12 years of data available from GPSRO, with the recognized properties high accuracy, global coverage, high vertical resolution, and long-term stability. These properties make GPSRO a suitable choice for comparison studies with other upper-air observational systems. The GRUAN network consists of reference radiosonde ground stations (16 at present), which adhere to the GCOS climate monitoring principles. In this study, we intercompare GPSRO temperature and humidity profiles and Vaisala RS90/92 data from the "standard" global radiosonde network over the whole 2002 to 2013 time frame. Additionally, we include the first years of GRUAN data (using Vaisala RS92), available since 2009. GPSRO profiles which occur within 3 h and 300 km of radiosonde launches are used. Very good agreement is found between all three datasets with temperature differences usually less than 0.2 K. In the stratosphere above 30 hPa, temperature differences are larger but still within 0.5 K. Day/night comparisons with GRUAN data reveal small deviations likely related to a warm bias of the radiosonde data at high altitudes, but also residual errors from the GPSRO retrieval process might play a role. Vaisala RS90/92 specific humidity exhibits a dry bias of up to 40% in the upper troposphere, with a smaller bias at lower altitudes within 15%. GRUAN shows a marked improvement in the bias characteristics, with less than 5% difference to GPSRO up to 300 hPa. GPSRO dry temperature and physical temperature are validated using radiosonde data as reference. We find that GPSRO provides valuable long-term stable reference observations with well-defined error characteristics for climate applications and for anchoring other upper-air measurements.

scholarly journals Impact of the Assimilation of CHAMP Refractivity Profiles on Environment Canada Global Forecasts

2008 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 257-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josep M. Aparicio ◽  
Godelieve Deblonde
Keyword(s):  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Radio Occultation ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Radiosonde Data ◽  
Environment Canada ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Geophysical Research ◽  
Gps Radio Occultation ◽  
Transient Period ◽  
Assimilation System

Abstract The data assimilation system of Environment Canada (EC) is adapted to accept GPS radio occultation (GPSRO) data. Observations of this type are available with extensive coverage from several satellites. In this study, experiments are performed to compare the skill of EC’s three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVAR) system (including all data normally assimilated operationally), with and without the addition of radio occultation refractivity data from the Challenging Minisatellite Payload for Geophysical Research (CHAMP). These data were not available at the time studied as near-real-time (NRT) observations. However, data from this and other radio occultation missions are now available as NRT data, and the conditions (latency, reliability) are improving. It is expected that NRT GPSRO data from a number of satellite missions will continue to be available through the following years. The results of the assimilation tests are evaluated against the following three data types: radiosondes (temperature and dewpoint depression), satellite brightness temperatures (from the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A), and GPS radio occultation refractivity profiles. For the 6-h forecasts, the differences between GPSRO observations and forecasts (O − F) are significantly reduced in the experiment that assimilates the GPSRO data. This reduction increases as the experiment proceeds in time, and stabilizes after a transient period of approximately 2 weeks, suggesting that the addition of GPSRO data to the assimilation system has a beneficial, persisting, and cumulative effect. This effect is more pronounced in the stratosphere than in the troposphere. In the stratosphere, the standard deviation of GPSRO (O − F) of the experiment that assimilates GPSRO decreases after the initial transient period by approximately 10%. This improvement can best be observed in the southern stratosphere where reductions of the order of 30% are common. This shows that, as a globally distributed and vertically well-resolved source of data, the GPSRO observations are not only useful for assimilation, but also as a tool to quantify the forecast skill of the assimilation system. Comparisons with radiometer and radiosonde data confirm the positive impact in these geographical areas. Longer-range forecasts (up to 6 days) also show a positive impact with similar geographical and altitude distribution.

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