Open AccessEstimates of the information provided by GPS slant data observed in Germany regarding tomographic applications
Author(s) -
Bender M.,
Dick G.,
Wickert J.,
Ramatschi M.,
Ge M.,
Gendt G.,
Rothacher M.,
Raabe A.,
Tetzlaff G.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2008jd011008
Subject(s) - global positioning system , depth sounding , remote sensing , geodesy , intersection (aeronautics) , troposphere , satellite , tomography , tomographic reconstruction , computer science , geology , meteorology , geography , iterative reconstruction , computer vision , cartography , physics , telecommunications , oceanography , astronomy , optics
The observation of GPS slant delays from ground GPS networks can be used to reconstruct spatially resolved humidity fields in the troposphere by means of tomographic techniques. Tomography is always related to the solution of inverse problems which are very sensitive to the quality of the input data. Prior to a tomographic reconstruction, it is therefore necessary to quantify the information provided by a given set of GPS slant delay data. This work describes the properties and the information content of more than two million GPS slant delays taken in March 2006 by a continuously operating German GPS network. The temporal and spatial distribution of the slant paths in the atmosphere and their angular distribution in the local system of the GPS station is given. These distributions depend on the satellite orbits and show some characteristic pattern. The available information is estimated by investigating the distribution of intersection points between the slant paths. From these data it is possible to identify regions that are well covered by GPS slant paths and to evaluate the applicability of the existing German GPS stations for continuous atmosphere sounding.