Published 12 issues per year
ISSN Print: 0040-2508
ISSN Online: 1943-6009
Indexed in
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MODELS FOR ESTIMATING THE TOTAL MOISTURE CONTENT OF THE TROPOSPHERE USING DATA OF GPS-MEASUREMENTS OVER THE KHARKOV REGION
ABSTRACT
Humidity and its space-and-time distribution are among the meteorological parameters which have crucial influence on microwave propagation through the atmosphere. The paper presents results of measuring the total moisture content of the atmosphere over the Kharkov region using Global Positioning System (GPS). The data have been numerically reduced to the amount of the deposite moisture in the vertical column over the receiver with the use of different models. The results calculated for 10 tropospheric models are analyzed in dependence on different weather conditions. It is shown that two models are preferable, specifically, Saastamoinen for the summer time and Hophield for spring and autumn, which reflects specific regional features of the troposphere associated with peculiarities of the air circulation and temperature conditions. The use of the optimal model allows reducing the error of estimating the moisture content in the atmosphere by a factor of 3 or 5.