GNSS radio occultation soundings from commercial off-the-shelf receivers on board balloon platforms
<p>The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) technique has proven to be an effective tool for Earth atmosphere profiling. Traditional spaceborne RO satellite constellations are expensive with relatively low sampling density for specific regions of interest. In contra...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| Online Access: | https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/16/941/2023/amt-16-941-2023.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797897067697274880 |
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| author | K. J. Nelson K. J. Nelson F. Xie B. C. Chan A. Goel J. Kosh T. G. R. Reid C. R. Snyder P. M. Tarantino |
| author_facet | K. J. Nelson K. J. Nelson F. Xie B. C. Chan A. Goel J. Kosh T. G. R. Reid C. R. Snyder P. M. Tarantino |
| author_sort | K. J. Nelson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) technique has proven to be an effective tool for Earth atmosphere profiling. Traditional spaceborne RO satellite constellations are expensive with relatively low sampling density for specific regions of interest. In contrast, in-atmosphere RO platforms can provide much higher spatial and temporal sampling of ROs around regional weather events. This study explores the capability of a low-cost and scalable commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) GNSS receiver on board high-altitude balloons. The refractivity retrievals from balloon-borne RO payloads obtained from two flight campaigns (World View and ZPM-1) are presented. The balloon-borne RO soundings from the World View campaign show refractivity profiles between 6 and 19 km, with overall near-zero median difference from colocated ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis data and variability comparable to spaceborne RO missions (<span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 2.3 % median absolute deviation or MAD). Soundings from the ZPM-1 campaign show a relatively large positive refractivity bias (<span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 2.5 %). In summary, low-cost COTS RO payloads on board balloon platforms are worth further engineering and study in order to provide capabilities for dense, targeted atmospheric soundings that can improve regional weather forecasts via data assimilation.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:51:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2029753529184d58ba2da58c4cde3cd5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1867-1381 1867-8548 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:51:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| spelling | doaj.art-2029753529184d58ba2da58c4cde3cd52023-02-23T09:28:08ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Measurement Techniques1867-13811867-85482023-02-011694195410.5194/amt-16-941-2023GNSS radio occultation soundings from commercial off-the-shelf receivers on board balloon platformsK. J. Nelson0K. J. Nelson1F. Xie2B. C. Chan3A. Goel4J. Kosh5T. G. R. Reid6C. R. Snyder7P. M. Tarantino8Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USAnow at: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USADepartment of Physical and Environmental Sciences, Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USANight Crew Labs, LLC, Woodside, CA, USANight Crew Labs, LLC, Woodside, CA, USANight Crew Labs, LLC, Woodside, CA, USANight Crew Labs, LLC, Woodside, CA, USANight Crew Labs, LLC, Woodside, CA, USANight Crew Labs, LLC, Woodside, CA, USA<p>The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) technique has proven to be an effective tool for Earth atmosphere profiling. Traditional spaceborne RO satellite constellations are expensive with relatively low sampling density for specific regions of interest. In contrast, in-atmosphere RO platforms can provide much higher spatial and temporal sampling of ROs around regional weather events. This study explores the capability of a low-cost and scalable commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) GNSS receiver on board high-altitude balloons. The refractivity retrievals from balloon-borne RO payloads obtained from two flight campaigns (World View and ZPM-1) are presented. The balloon-borne RO soundings from the World View campaign show refractivity profiles between 6 and 19 km, with overall near-zero median difference from colocated ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis data and variability comparable to spaceborne RO missions (<span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 2.3 % median absolute deviation or MAD). Soundings from the ZPM-1 campaign show a relatively large positive refractivity bias (<span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 2.5 %). In summary, low-cost COTS RO payloads on board balloon platforms are worth further engineering and study in order to provide capabilities for dense, targeted atmospheric soundings that can improve regional weather forecasts via data assimilation.</p>https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/16/941/2023/amt-16-941-2023.pdf |
| spellingShingle | K. J. Nelson K. J. Nelson F. Xie B. C. Chan A. Goel J. Kosh T. G. R. Reid C. R. Snyder P. M. Tarantino GNSS radio occultation soundings from commercial off-the-shelf receivers on board balloon platforms Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| title | GNSS radio occultation soundings from commercial off-the-shelf receivers on board balloon platforms |
| title_full | GNSS radio occultation soundings from commercial off-the-shelf receivers on board balloon platforms |
| title_fullStr | GNSS radio occultation soundings from commercial off-the-shelf receivers on board balloon platforms |
| title_full_unstemmed | GNSS radio occultation soundings from commercial off-the-shelf receivers on board balloon platforms |
| title_short | GNSS radio occultation soundings from commercial off-the-shelf receivers on board balloon platforms |
| title_sort | gnss radio occultation soundings from commercial off the shelf receivers on board balloon platforms |
| url | https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/16/941/2023/amt-16-941-2023.pdf |
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