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A proof‐of‐concept balloon‐borne Global Positioning System radio occultation profiling instrument for polar studies
Author(s) -
Haase J. S.,
MaldonadoVargas J.,
Rabier F.,
Cocquerez P.,
Minois M.,
Guidard V.,
Wyss P.,
Johnson A. V.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2011gl049982
Subject(s) - dropsonde , radio occultation , data assimilation , environmental science , occultation , remote sensing , global positioning system , numerical weather prediction , meteorology , polar orbit , satellite , computer science , geology , physics , tropical cyclone , astronomy , telecommunications
Global warming has focused attention on the polar regions and recent changes in sea and land ice distribution. Accurate modeling of the future evolution of climate and weather in the Antarctic relies heavily on remote sensing observations. However, their reliable assimilation into numerical weather models and reanalyses is challenging because of the unique environment and sparsity of in‐situ observations for validation. We developed a stratospheric balloon‐borne GPS radio occultation system for the 2010 Concordiasi campaign to provide refractivity and derived temperature profiles for improving satellite data assimilation. The observed excess phase delay profiles agree with those simulated from model and dropsonde profiles. 711 occultations were recorded from two balloons, comparable to the number of profiles acquired by 13 driftsonde balloons. Of these profiles, 32% descended to 4 km above the surface, without open‐loop receiver tracking technology, demonstrating it is possible to retrieve useful information with relatively simple low cost instruments.