Atmospheric Profiling using GPS Radio Occultation over the Australian and Antarctic regions

Robert Norman, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, John Le Marshall, Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, Australia, Brett A Carter, RMIT University, SPACE Research Centre, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, Gottfried Kirchengast, University of Graz, Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change (WEGC) and Institute of Physics, Graz, Austria, Simon Alexander, Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, TAS, Australia, Chuan-Sheng Wang, National Taipei University, New Taipei City, Taiwan and Kefei Zhang, RMIT Univ, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract:
The space-based Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO) technique is ideal for sounding the Earth’s atmosphere. The GPS RO technique uses GPS receiver’s on-board Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to measure the received radio signals from GPS satellites. Atmospheric parameter profiles of electron density, temperature, pressure and water vapor can then be obtained using well defined and robust retrieval processes. In this study atmospheric parameter profiles were retrieved from Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) GPS RO measurements for the years 2007 to 2013 over Australia, Antarctica and their surrounding oceans. The yearly and bi-monthly tropopause height and temperature and climatic trends are investigated and co-located GPS RO and radiosonde atmospheric profiles are compared. Forecast skill scores with and without GPS RO data over the Australian and Antarctic regions are also assessed. Finally, a 3-D ray tracing technique was developed to investigate and improve the GPS RO technique. Simulated results from a tropospheric storm event on GPS RO signal propagation are investigated.
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