Analysis of precipitable water vapor from GPS measurements in Chengdu region: Distribution and evolution characteristics in autumn

Retrieving Precipitable Water Vapor Data Using GPS Zenith Delays and Global Reanalysis Data in China

“…GPS meteorology, which was first proposed in 1992 by Bevis [4], has proven to be a very effective method to estimate precipitable water vapor (PWV) (e.g., see [5,6]). Information about atmospheric water vapor provided previous GPS geodetic observations have great potential to reconstruct the precipitable water field with higher spatial and temporal resolution, which can be used to study the characteristics of water vapor (e.g., see [24]) or analyze the water vapor movement during severe weather (e.g., see [25]) in more detail.…”

Synthesis Analysis of One Severe Convection Precipitation Event in Jiangsu Using Ground-Based GPS Technology

“…These stations, located in Jiangsu Province, include the northern stations of Fengxian (JSFX), Ganyu (JSGU), Donghai (JSDH), and Guanyun (JSGY); the middle region stations of Hongze (JSHZ), Baoying (JSBY), Yancheng (JSYH), Gaoyou (JSGO), Jinhu (JSJH), and Dafeng (JSDF); and the southern stations of Gaocun (JSGC), Nantong (JSNT), and Haimen (JSHM) (Table 1, Figure 2). Before analysis, a quality control procedure was performed on the GPS-PWV data to assure that it met the requirements for meteorology applications [10]. Each GPS receiver was equipped with a weather station at close proximity so that the derived GPS-PWV data would represent the actual amount of PWV at the station.…”

“…Each GPS receiver was equipped with a weather station at close proximity so that the derived GPS-PWV data would represent the actual amount of PWV at the station. In terms of precision determinations, because 13 GPS stations did not have corresponding radiosonde or microwave radiometer data at the same locations for comparative analyses [10], the precipitable water data at 360 time points during a three-month period (June, July, and August of 2009) were selected from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis dataset and the GPS-derived PWV data at the same time points were used for comparative analyses in this study. The analysis results showed that except for three stations, namely, JSGU, JSDF, and JSNT, where the root-mean-square error was greater than 6 mm (11.2 mm for JSGU, 8.8 mm for JSDF, and 7.4 mm for JSNT), all the other stations met the precision requirements for PWV measurements in meteorological applications.…”

“…Studies have proven that GPS/MET data have a precision equivalent to data obtained by microwave radiometers and radiosondes [4,[6][7][8]; thus, this technology has gained attention from meteorologists in recent years and has gradually become an effective water vapor detection method, especially for refined forecasts of sudden heavy precipitation. The GPS-precipitable water vapor (GPS-PWV) data obtained through inversion using this technology reflect the inflow and outflow of water vapor in a vertical air column above a certain area in nearly real-time [9,10], which is especially important in areas of severe water vapor variation [11]. Hence, GPS-PWV data have been widely used in meteorology applications.…”

“…Means [15] analyzed almost seven years worth of GPS-PWV data for California and Nevada and discovered that variations in the North American monsoon significantly affected the PWV distribution; additionally, a close correlation was found between the PWV variation and the start and end of the monsoon. Wang et al [10] performed a multi-scale analysis on the unique "autumn rainfall" phenomenon in the Chengdu Plain region based on a 30-min interval GPS-PWV time series and identified the physical mechanism underlying "autumn rainfall" formation by combining a synthesis analysis approach with the unique local topographical conditions and climate features. Ryu et al [16] analyzed the features of water vapor transport in the middle Atlantic states based on GPS-PWV data with high spatial and temporal resolution, and their analysis results showed that water vapor exhibited significant seasonal changes but only small daily changes.…”