Precipitable Water Vapor Estimates in the Australian Region from Ground-Based GPS Observations

Abstract

We present a comparison of atmospheric precipitable water vapor (PWV) derived from ground-based global positioning system (GPS) receiver with traditional radiosonde measurement and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) technique for a five-year period (2008–2012) using Australian GPS stations. These stations were selectively chosen to provide a representative regional distribution of sites while ensuring conventional meteorological observations were available. Good agreement of PWV estimates was found between GPS and VLBI comparison with a mean difference of less than 1 mm and standard deviation of 3.5 mm and a mean difference and standard deviation of 0.1 mm and 4.0 mm, respectively, between GPS and radiosonde measurements. Systematic errors have also been discovered during the course of this study, which highlights the benefit of using GPS as a supplementary atmospheric PWV sensor and calibration system. The selected eight GPS sites sample different climates across Australia covering an area of approximately 30° NS/EW. It has also shown that the magnitude and variation of PWV estimates depend on the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, which is a function of season, topography, and other regional climate conditions.