Articles | Volume 18, issue 13
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3217-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3217-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
16 Jul 2025
Research article |
| 16 Jul 2025
| 16 Jul 2025
Observed impact of the GNSS clock data rate on radio occultation bending angles for Sentinel-6A and COSMIC-2
Sebastiano Padovan
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
Axel von Engeln
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
Saverio Paolella
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
Yago Andres
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
Chad R. Galley
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
Riccardo Notarpietro
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
Veronica Rivas Boscan
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
Francisco Sancho
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
Francisco Martin Alemany
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
Nicolas Morew
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
Christian Marquardt
European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Darmstadt 64295, Germany
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Saverio Paolella, Axel Von Engeln, Sebastiano Padovan, Riccardo Notarpietro, Christian Marquardt, Francisco Sancho, Veronica Rivas Boscan, Nicolas Morew, and Francisco Martin Alemany
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2825–2846, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2825-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2825-2025, 2025
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This study assesses the capability of the EUMETSAT Sentinel-6A radio occultation (RO) non-time-critical processor to generate high-quality bending angle profiles. The analysis examines various aspects of both the RO instrument and the bending angle processing chain. The resulting bending angle profiles were compared against forward-modeled profiles from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), confirming the processor's ability to consistently produce accurate and reliable data.
Saverio Paolella, Axel Von Engeln, Sebastiano Padovan, Riccardo Notarpietro, Christian Marquardt, Francisco Sancho, Veronica Rivas Boscan, Nicolas Morew, and Francisco Martin Alemany
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2825–2846, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2825-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2825-2025, 2025
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This study assesses the capability of the EUMETSAT Sentinel-6A radio occultation (RO) non-time-critical processor to generate high-quality bending angle profiles. The analysis examines various aspects of both the RO instrument and the bending angle processing chain. The resulting bending angle profiles were compared against forward-modeled profiles from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), confirming the processor's ability to consistently produce accurate and reliable data.
Josef Innerkofler, Gottfried Kirchengast, Marc Schwärz, Christian Marquardt, and Yago Andres
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5217–5247, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5217-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5217-2023, 2023
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Atmosphere remote sensing using GNSS radio occultation provides a highly valuable basis for atmospheric and climate science. For the highest-quality demands, the Wegener Center set up a rigorous system for processing low-level measurement data. This excess-phase processing setup includes integrated quality control and uncertainty estimation. It was successfully evaluated and inter-compared, ensuring the capability of producing reliable long-term data records for climate applications.
Miquel Garcia-Fernandez, Manuel Hernandez-Pajares, Antonio Rius, Riccardo Notarpietro, Axel von Engeln, and Yannick Béniguel
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2017-217, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2017-217, 2017
Revised manuscript not accepted
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This paper presents a data-driven model of the ionospheric electron density that has been developed for the EUMETSAT Polar System - Second Generation mission, with the main goal to improve the inversion of radio occultations for neutral atmospheric sounding. This model has been developed using occultation data from the COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 satellite, which has been inverted using a LMS-based mechanization of the Abel inversion that implements the separability hypothesis.
Remko Scharroo, Hans Bonekamp, Christelle Ponsard, François Parisot, Axel von Engeln, Milen Tahtadjiev, Kristiaan de Vriendt, and François Montagner
Ocean Sci., 12, 471–479, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-12-471-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-12-471-2016, 2016
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The Sentinel-6 mission is proposed as a multi-partner programme to continue the Jason satellite altimeter data services beyond the Jason-2 and Jason-3 missions. The Sentinel-6 mission programme consists of two identical satellites flying in sequence to prolong the climate data record of sea level accumulated by the TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, Jason-2, and Jason-3 missions from 2020 to beyond 2030.
I. D. Culverwell, H. W. Lewis, D. Offiler, C. Marquardt, and C. P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1887–1899, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1887-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1887-2015, 2015
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This paper describes the Radio Occultation Processing Package, ROPP, which is a suite of freely available programs provided by EUMETSAT for the processing of radio occultation data. Its capabilities are briefly reviewed, and examples of its use are given. Some current and prospective uses of ROPP are listed.
A. K. Steiner, D. Hunt, S.-P. Ho, G. Kirchengast, A. J. Mannucci, B. Scherllin-Pirscher, H. Gleisner, A. von Engeln, T. Schmidt, C. Ao, S. S. Leroy, E. R. Kursinski, U. Foelsche, M. Gorbunov, S. Heise, Y.-H. Kuo, K. B. Lauritsen, C. Marquardt, C. Rocken, W. Schreiner, S. Sokolovskiy, S. Syndergaard, and J. Wickert
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Dong L. Wu, Valery A. Yudin, Kyu-Myong Kim, Mohar Chattopadhyay, Lawrence Coy, Ruth S. Lieberman, C. C. Jude H. Salinas, Jae N. Lee, Jie Gong, and Guiping Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 843–863, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-843-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-843-2025, 2025
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Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation data help monitor climate and weather prediction but are affected by residual ionospheric errors (RIEs). A new excess-phase-gradient method detects and corrects RIEs, showing both positive and negative values, varying by latitude, time, and solar activity. Tests show that RIE impacts polar stratosphere temperatures in models, with differences up to 3–4 K. This highlights the need for RIE correction to improve the accuracy of data assimilation.
Damao Zhang, Jennifer Comstock, Chitra Sivaraman, Kefei Mo, Raghavendra Krishnamurthy, Jingjing Tian, Tianning Su, Zhanqing Li, and Natalia Roldán-Henao
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Planetary boundary layer height (PBLHT) is an important parameter in atmospheric process studies and numerical model simulations. We use machine learning methods to produce a best-estimate planetary boundary layer height (PBLHT-BE-ML) by integrating four PBLHT estimates derived from remote sensing measurements. We demonstrated that PBLHT-BE-ML greatly improved the comparisons against sounding-derived PBLHT.
Miguel Aldana, Seppo Pulkkinen, Annakaisa von Lerber, Matthew R. Kumjian, and Dmitri Moisseev
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 793–816, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-793-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-793-2025, 2025
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Accurate KDP estimates are crucial in radar-based applications. We quantify the uncertainties of several publicly available KDP estimation methods for multiple rainfall intensities. We use C-band weather radar observations and employed a self-consistency KDP, estimated from reflectivity and differential reflectivity, as a framework for the examination. Our study provides guidance for the performance, uncertainties, and optimisation of the methods, focusing mainly on accuracy and robustness.
Rohith Thundathil, Florian Zus, Galina Dick, and Jens Wickert
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Tropospheric gradients provide information on the moisture distribution, whereas ZTDs provide the absolute amount of moisture through integrated water vapor. When TGs are assimilated with ZTDs, it helps the model actuate the moisture fields, correcting its dynamics. In our research, we show evidence that in particular regions with very few GNSS stations, the assimilation of gradients on top of ZTDs can provide the same impact as the assimilation of only ZTDs with dense coverage of GNSS stations.
Lei Liu, Natalia Bliankinshtein, Yi Huang, John R. Gyakum, Philip M. Gabriel, Shiqi Xu, and Mengistu Wolde
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 471–485, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-471-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-471-2025, 2025
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This study evaluates and compares a new microwave hyperspectrometer with an infrared hyperspectrometer for clear-sky temperature and water vapor retrievals. The analysis reveals that the information content of the infrared hyperspectrometer exceeds that of the microwave hyperspectrometer and provides higher vertical resolution in ground-based zenith measurements. Leveraging the ground–airborne synergy between the two instruments yielded optimal sounding results.
David D. Turner, Maria P. Cadeddu, Julia Simonson, and Timothy J. Wagner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4124, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4124, 2025
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When deriving a geophysical variable from remote sensors, the uncertainty and information content are critical. The latter quantify specifies what fraction of a real perturbation would be observed in the derived variable. This paper outlines, for the first time, a methodology for propagating the information content from multiple remote sensors into a derived product, using horizontal advection as an example.
Endrit Shehaj, Stephen Leroy, Kerri Cahoy, Alain Geiger, Laura Crocetti, Gregor Moeller, Benedikt Soja, and Markus Rothacher
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 57–72, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-57-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-57-2025, 2025
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This work investigates whether machine learning (ML) can offer an alternative to existing methods to map radio occultation (RO) products, allowing the extraction of information not visible in direct observations. ML can further improve the results of Bayesian interpolation, a state-of-the-art method to map RO observations. The results display improvements in horizontal and temporal domains, at heights ranging from the planetary boundary layer up to the lower stratosphere, and for all seasons.
Luuk D. van der Valk, Oscar K. Hartogensis, Miriam Coenders-Gerrits, Rolf W. Hut, Bas Walraven, and Remko Uijlenhoet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2974, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2974, 2025
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Commercial microwave links (CMLs), part of mobile phone networks, transmit comparable signals as instruments specially designed to estimate evaporation. Therefore, we investigate if CMLs could be used to estimate evaporation, even though they have not been designed for this purpose. Our results illustrate the potential of using CMLs to estimate evaporation, especially given their global coverage, but also outline some major drawbacks, often a consequence of unfavourable design choices for CMLs.
Andreas Foth, Moritz Lochmann, Pablo Saavedra Garfias, and Heike Kalesse-Los
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 7169–7181, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7169-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7169-2024, 2024
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Microwave radiometers are usually not able to provide atmospheric quantities such as temperature profiles during rain. We present a method based on a selection of specific frequencies and elevation angles from microwave radiometer observations. A comparison with a numerical weather prediction model shows the presented method allows low-level temperature profiles during rain to be resolved, with rain rates of up to 2.5 mm h−1,, which was not possible before with state-of-the-art retrievals.
Lev D. Labzovskii, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, David P. Donovan, Jos de Kloe, L. Gijsbert Tilstra, Ad Stoffelen, Damien Josset, and Piet Stammes
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 7183–7208, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7183-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7183-2024, 2024
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The Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument (ALADIN) on the Aeolus satellite was the first of its kind to measure high-resolution vertical profiles of aerosols and cloud properties from space. We present an algorithm that produces Aeolus lidar surface returns (LSRs), containing useful information for measuring UV reflectivity. Aeolus LSRs matched well with existing UV reflectivity data from other satellites, like GOME-2 and TROPOMI, and demonstrated excellent sensitivity to modeled snow cover.
Thomas Hocking, Thorsten Mauritsen, and Linda Megner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 7077–7095, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7077-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7077-2024, 2024
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The imbalance between the energy the Earth absorbs from the Sun and the energy the Earth emits back into space gives rise to climate change, but measuring the small imbalance is challenging. We simulate satellites in various orbits to investigate how well they sample the imbalance and find that the best option is to combine at least two satellites that see complementary parts of the Earth and cover the daily and annual cycles. This information is useful when planning future satellite missions.
Almudena Velázquez Blázquez, Carlos Domenech, Edward Baudrez, Nicolas Clerbaux, Carla Salas Molar, and Nils Madenach
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 7007–7026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7007-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7007-2024, 2024
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This paper focuses on the BMA-FLX processor, in which thermal and solar top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes are obtained from longwave and shortwave radiances measured along track by the EarthCARE Broadband Radiometer (BBR). The BBR measurements, at three fixed viewing angles (fore, nadir, aft), are co-registered either at the surface or at a reference level. A combined flux from the three BRR views is obtained. The algorithm has been successfully validated against test scenes.
Wolf Knöller, Gholamhossein Bagheri, Philipp von Olshausen, and Michael Wilczek
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6913–6931, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6913-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6913-2024, 2024
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Three-dimensional (3D) wind velocity measurements are of major importance for the characterization of atmospheric turbulence. This paper presents a detailed study of the measurement uncertainty of a three-beam wind lidar designed for mounting on airborne platforms. Considering the geometrical constraints, the analysis provides quantitative estimates for the measurement uncertainty of all components of the 3D wind vector. As a result, we propose optimized post-processing for error reduction.
Bianca Adler, David D. Turner, Laura Bianco, Irina V. Djalalova, Timothy Myers, and James M. Wilczak
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6603–6624, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6603-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6603-2024, 2024
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Continuous profile observations of temperature and humidity in the lowest part of the atmosphere are essential for the evaluation of numerical weather prediction models and data assimilation for better weather forecasts. Such profiles can be retrieved from passive ground-based remote sensing instruments like infrared spectrometers and microwave radiometers. In this study, we describe three recent modifications to the retrieval framework TROPoe for improved temperature and humidity profiles.
Yunfan Yang, Wei Han, Haofei Sun, Jun Li, Jiapeng Yan, and Zhiqiu Gao
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-175, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-175, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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Our research improves satellite-based precipitation monitoring by using deep learning to reconstruct radar observations from passive microwave radiances. Active radar is costly, so we focus on a more accessible approach. Using data from the FengYun-3G satellite, we successfully tracked severe weather like Typhoon Khanun and heavy rainfall in Beijing in 2023. This method enhances global precipitation data and helps better understand extreme weather.
Bernat Puigdomènech Treserras and Pavlos Kollias
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6301–6314, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6301-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6301-2024, 2024
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The paper presents a comprehensive approach to improve the geolocation accuracy of spaceborne radar and lidar systems, crucial for the successful interpretation of data from the upcoming EarthCARE mission. The paper details the technical background of the presented methods and various examples of geolocation analyses, including a short period of CloudSat observations when the star tracker was not operating properly and lifetime statistics from the CloudSat and CALIPSO missions.
Andreas Walbröl, Hannes J. Griesche, Mario Mech, Susanne Crewell, and Kerstin Ebell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6223–6245, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6223-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6223-2024, 2024
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We developed retrievals of integrated water vapour (IWV), temperature profiles, and humidity profiles from ground-based passive microwave remote sensing measurements gathered during the MOSAiC expedition. We demonstrate and quantify the benefit of combining low- and high-frequency microwave radiometers to improve humidity profiling and IWV estimates by comparing the retrieved quantities to single-instrument retrievals and reference datasets (radiosondes).
Tessa E. Rosenberger, Thijs Heus, Girish N. Raghunathan, David D. Turner, Timothy J. Wagner, and Julia M. Simonson
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2894, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2894, 2024
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Entrainment is key in understanding temperature and moisture changes within the boundary layer, but it is difficult to observe using ground-based observations. This work used simulations to verify an assumption that simplifies entrainment estimations from ground-based observational data, recognizing that entrainment is the combination of the transfer of heat and moisture from above the boundary layer into it and the change in concentration of heat and moisture as boundary layer depth changes.
Giulia Roccetti, Luca Bugliaro, Felix Gödde, Claudia Emde, Ulrich Hamann, Mihail Manev, Michael Fritz Sterzik, and Cedric Wehrum
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6025–6046, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6025-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6025-2024, 2024
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The amount of sunlight reflected by the Earth’s surface (albedo) is vital for the Earth's radiative system. While satellite instruments offer detailed spatial and temporal albedo maps, they only cover seven wavelength bands. We generate albedo maps that fully span the visible and near-infrared range using a machine learning algorithm. These maps reveal how the reflectivity of different land surfaces varies throughout the year. Our dataset enhances the understanding of the Earth's energy balance.
Ollie Lewis, Chris Brunt, Malcolm Kitchen, Neill E. Bowler, and Edmund K. Stone
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2273, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2273, 2024
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Humidity observations are crucial for an accurate weather forecast. We propose a new way to measure humidity by measuring how radio signals from commercial aircraft are refracted by the atmosphere. Humidity affects the refractive index of air, allowing its presence to be detected. With thousands of flights in the airspace over the United Kingdom every day, there is the potential for a large increase in the number of humidity measurements for use in weather forecasting models.
Dianrun Zhao, Shanshan Du, Chu Zou, Longfei Tian, Meng Fan, Yulu Du, and Liangyun Liu
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3118, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3118, 2024
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The TanSat-2 satellite is designed for global carbon monitoring. It provides high-resolution, dual-band observations of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, a key indicator of plant photosynthesis. Through simulations, we optimized the satellite's data processing and found it can retrieve this fluorescence with great accuracy. These findings suggest that TanSat-2 will enhance global monitoring of carbon cycles and vegetation health, offering valuable insights for climate change research.
Sebastian Rhode, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Inna Polichtchouk, Kaoru Sato, Shingo Watanabe, Manfred Ern, Karlheinz Nogai, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5785–5819, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5785-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5785-2024, 2024
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We investigate the capabilities of a proposed satellite mission, CAIRT, for observing gravity waves throughout the middle atmosphere and present the necessary methodology for in-depth wave analysis. Our findings suggest that such a satellite mission is highly capable of resolving individual wave parameters and could give new insights into the role of gravity waves in general atmospheric circulation and atmospheric processes.
Xiaoye Wang, Jing Xu, Songhua Wu, Qichao Wang, Guangyao Dai, Peizhi Zhu, Zhizhong Su, Sai Chen, Xiaomeng Shi, and Mengqi Fan
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-156, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-156, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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In this paper, we proposed a data fusion method to obtain the no-blind zone wind speed profiles covering the whole Atmospheric Boundary Layer based on the joint measurements of coherent Doppler lidar (CDL), radar wind profiler (RWP) and automatic weather station (AWS). Since above instruments are widely deployed in China, we believe this method has broad application prospects on the improvement of the boundary layer parameterization scheme in numerical forecast models.
Suyoung Sim, Sungwon Choi, Daeseong Jung, Jongho Woo, Nayeon Kim, Sungwoo Park, Honghee Kim, Ukkyo Jeong, Hyunkee Hong, and Kyung-Soo Han
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5601–5618, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5601-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5601-2024, 2024
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This study evaluates the use of background surface reflectance (BSR) derived from a semi-empirical bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model based on GEMS satellite images. Analysis shows that BSR provides improved accuracy and stability compared to Lambertian-equivalent reflectivity (LER). These results indicate that BSR can significantly enhance climate analysis and air quality monitoring, making it a promising tool for accurate environmental satellite applications.
Daniel Durbin, Yadong Wang, and Pao-Liang Chang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5397–5411, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5397-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5397-2024, 2024
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A method for determining drop size distributions (DSDs) for rain using radar measurements from two frequencies at two polarizations is presented. Following some preprocessing and quality control, radar measurements are incorporated into a model that uses swarm intelligence to seek the most suitable DSD to produce the input measurements.
Witali Krochin, Axel Murk, and Gunter Stober
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5015–5028, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5015-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5015-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric tides are global-scale oscillations with periods of a fraction of a day. Their observation in the middle atmosphere is challenging and rare, as it requires continuous measurements with a high temporal resolution. In this paper, temperature time series of a ground-based microwave radiometer were analyzed with a spectral filter to derive thermal tide amplitudes and phases in an altitude range of 25–50 km at the geographical locations of Payerne and Bern (Switzerland).
Matteo Ottaviani, Gabriel Harris Myers, and Nan Chen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4737–4756, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4737-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4737-2024, 2024
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We analyze simulated polarization observations over snow to investigate the capabilities of remote sensing to determine surface and atmospheric properties in snow-covered regions. Polarization measurements are demonstrated to aid in the determination of snow grain shape, ice crystal roughness, and the vertical distribution of impurities in the snow–atmosphere system, data that are critical for estimating snow albedo for use in climate models.
Yudong Gao, Lidou Huyan, Zheng Wu, and Bojun Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4675–4686, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4675-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4675-2024, 2024
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A symmetric error model built by symmetric rain rates handles the non-Gaussian error structure of the reflectivity error. The accuracy and linearization of rain rates can further improve the Gaussianity.
José Alex Zenteno-Hernández, Adolfo Comerón, Federico Dios, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Michaël Sicard, Noemi Franco, Andreas Behrendt, and Paolo Di Girolamo
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4687–4694, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4687-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4687-2024, 2024
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We study how the spectral characteristics of a solid-state laser in an atmospheric temperature profiling lidar using the Raman technique impact the temperature retrieval accuracy. We find that the spectral widening, with respect to a seeded laser, has virtually no impact, while crystal-rod temperature variations in the laser must be kept within a range of 1 K for the uncertainty in the atmospheric temperature below 1 K. The study is carried out through spectroscopy simulations.
Robert Reichert, Natalie Kaifler, and Bernd Kaifler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4659–4673, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4659-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4659-2024, 2024
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Imagine you want to determine how quickly the pitch of a passing ambulance’s siren changes. If the vehicle is traveling slowly, the pitch changes only slightly, but if it is traveling fast, the pitch also changes rapidly. In a similar way, the wind in the middle atmosphere modulates the wavelength of atmospheric gravity waves. We have investigated the question of how strong the maximum wind may be so that the change in wavelength can still be determined with the help of wavelet transformation.
Qiang Guo, Yuning Liu, Xin Wang, and Wen Hui
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4613–4627, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4613-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4613-2024, 2024
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Non-linearity (NL) correction is a critical procedure to guarantee that the calibration accuracy of a spaceborne sensor approaches a reasonable level. Different from the classical method, a new NL correction method for a spaceborne Fourier transform spectrometer is proposed. To overcome the inaccurate linear coefficient from two-point calibration influencing NL correction, an iteration algorithm is established that is suitable for NL correction of both infrared and microwave sensors.
Bing Cao, Jennifer S. Haase, Michael J. Murphy Jr., and Anna M. Wilson
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-119, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-119, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
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This paper describes an Airborne Radio Occultation (ARO) observation system installed on reconnaissance aircraft that uses GPS signal refraction in the atmosphere to retrieve information about the temperature and moisture in the storm environment as far away as 400 km surrounding the flight track. The characteristics and quality of 1700 ARO refractivity profiles were assessed. These observations are collected to help understand atmospheric rivers and improve their forecasting.
Yuanxin Pan, Grzegorz Kłopotek, Laura Crocetti, Rudi Weinacker, Tobias Sturn, Linda See, Galina Dick, Gregor Möller, Markus Rothacher, Ian McCallum, Vicente Navarro, and Benedikt Soja
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4303–4316, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4303-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4303-2024, 2024
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Crowdsourced smartphone GNSS data were processed with a dedicated data processing pipeline and could produce millimeter-level accurate estimates of zenith total delay (ZTD) – a critical atmospheric variable. This breakthrough not only demonstrates the feasibility of using ubiquitous devices for high-precision atmospheric monitoring but also underscores the potential for a global, cost-effective tropospheric monitoring network.
Almudena Velázquez Blázquez, Edward Baudrez, Nicolas Clerbaux, and Carlos Domenech
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4245–4256, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4245-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4245-2024, 2024
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The Broadband Radiometer measures shortwave and total-wave radiances filtered by the spectral response of the instrument. To obtain unfiltered solar and thermal radiances, the effect of the spectral response needs to be corrected for, done within the BM-RAD processor. Errors in the unfiltering are propagated into fluxes; thus, accurate unfiltering is required for their proper estimation (within BMA-FLX). Unfiltering errors are estimated to be <0.5 % for the shortwave and <0.1 % for the longwave.
Qihou Zhou, Yanlin Li, and Yun Gong
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4197–4209, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4197-2024, 2024
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We discuss several robust estimators to compute the variance of a normally distributed random variable to deal with interference. Compared to rank-based estimators, the methods based on the geometric mean are more accurate and are computationally more efficient. We apply three robust estimators to incoherent scatter power and velocity processing, along with the traditional sample mean estimator. The best estimator is a hybrid estimator that combines the sample mean and a robust estimator.
Zhao Shi, Yuxiang Wen, and Jianxin He
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4121–4135, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4121-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4121-2024, 2024
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The squall line is a type of convective system. Squall lines are often associated with damaging weather, so identifying and tracking squall lines plays an important role in early meteorological disaster warnings. A clustering-based method is proposed in this article. It can identify the squall lines within the radar scanning range with an accuracy rate of 95.93 %. It can also provide the three-dimensional structure and movement tracking results for each squall line.
Elizabeth N. Smith and Jacob T. Carlin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4087–4107, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4087-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4087-2024, 2024
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Boundary-layer height observations remain sparse in time and space. In this study we create a new fuzzy logic method for synergistically combining boundary-layer height estimates from a suite of instruments. These estimates generally compare well to those from radiosondes; plus, the approach offers near-continuous estimates through the entire diurnal cycle. Suspected reasons for discrepancies are discussed. The code for the newly presented fuzzy logic method is provided for the community to use.
Laura Bianco, Bianca Adler, Ludovic Bariteau, Irina V. Djalalova, Timothy Myers, Sergio Pezoa, David D. Turner, and James M. Wilczak
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3933–3948, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3933-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3933-2024, 2024
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The Tropospheric Remotely Observed Profiling via Optimal Estimation physical retrieval is used to retrieve temperature and humidity profiles from various combinations of passive and active remote sensing instruments, surface platforms, and numerical weather prediction models. The retrieved profiles are assessed against collocated radiosonde in non-cloudy conditions to assess the sensitivity of the retrievals to different input combinations. Case studies with cloudy conditions are also inspected.
Cited articles
Anthes, R., Sjoberg, J., Feng, X., and Syndergaard, S.: Comparison of COSMIC and COSMIC-2 Radio Occultation Refractivity and Bending Angle Uncertainties in August 2006 and 2021, Atmosphere, 13, 790, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13050790, 2022. a
Anthes, R. A., Marquardt, C., Ruston, B., and Shao, H.: Radio Occultation Modeling Experiment, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 105, E1552–E1568, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0326.1, 2024. a
Beyerle, G., Schmidt, T., Michalak, G., Heise, S., Wickert, J., and Reigber, C.: GPS radio occultation with GRACE: Atmospheric profiling utilizing the zero difference technique, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L13806, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL023109, 2005. a
Bock, H., Jäggi, A., Meyer, U., Visser, P., van den IJssel, J., van Helleputte, T., Heinze, M., and Hugentobler, U.: GPS-derived orbits for the GOCE satellite, J. Geod., 85, 807–818, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-011-0484-9, 2011. a
Bowler, N. E.: An assessment of GNSS radio occultation data produced by Spire, Q. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc., 146, 3772–3788, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3872, 2020. a, b
Culverwell, I. D., Lewis, H. W., Offiler, D., Marquardt, C., and Burrows, C. P.: The Radio Occultation Processing Package, ROPP, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1887–1899, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1887-2015, 2015. a
Dach, R., Lutz, S., Walser, P., and Fridez, P. (Eds.): Bernese GNSS Software Version 5.2. User Manual, University of Bern, Bern Open Publishing, Bern, ISBN 978-3-906813-05-9, https://doi.org/10.7892/boris.72297, 2015. a
Dach, R., Schaer, S., Arnold, D., Brockmann, E., Kalarus, M. S., Prange, L., Stebler, P., and Jäggi, A.: CODE final product series for the IGS, Astronomical Institute, University of Bern, https://doi.org/10.48350/185744, 2023a. a
Dach, R., Schaer, S., Arnold, D., Brockmann, E., Kalarus, M. S., Prange, L., Stebler, P., and Jäggi, A.: CODE rapid product series for the IGS, Astronomical Institute, University of Bern, https://doi.org/10.48350/185740, 2023b. a, b
Donlon, C. J., Cullen, R., Giulicchi, L., Vuilleumier, P., Francis, C. R., Kuschnerus, M., Simpson, W., Bouridah, A., Caleno, M., Bertoni, R., Rancaño, J., Pourier, E., Hyslop, A., Mulcahy, J., Knockaert, R., Hunter, C., Webb, A., Fornari, M., Vaze, P., Brown, S., Willis, J., Desai, S., Desjonqueres, J.-D., Scharroo, R., Martin-Puig, C., Leuliette, E., Egido, A., Smith, W. H., Bonnefond, P., Le Gac, S., Picot, N., and Tavernier, G.: The Copernicus Sentinel-6 mission: Enhanced continuity of satellite sea level measurements from space, Remote Sens. Env., 258, 112395 pp., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112395, 2021. a, b
Esterhuizen, S., Franklin, G., Hurst, K., Mannucci, A., Meehan, T., Webb, F., and Young, L.: TriG – A GNSS Precise Orbit and Radio Occultation Space Receiver, Institute of Navigation Satellite Division Proceedings of the International Technical Meeting, 1442–1446 pp., ISSN 2331-5911, 22nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of the Institute-of-Navigation (ION GNSS-09), Savannah, GA, SEP 22-25, 2009, 2009. a
EUMETSAT Public Document EUM/LEO-JASCS/DOC/21/1253471: Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Product Notice (Radio Occultation NTC), available at https://user.eumetsat.int/s3/eup-strapi-media/Sentinel_6_Michael_Freilich_Product_Notice_Radio_Occultation_NTC_v4_a9723227ce.pdf (last access: 9 July 2025), 2024. a
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Fernández, J., Peter, H., Fernández, C., Berzosa, J., Fernández, M., Bao, L., Ángel Muñoz, M., Lara, S., Terradillos, E., Féménias, P., and Nogueira, C.: The Copernicus POD Service, Adv. Space Res., 2615–2648, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2024.02.056, 2024. a, b, c
Gilpin, S., Anthes, R., and Sokolovskiy, S.: Sensitivity of Forward-Modeled Bending Angles to Vertical Interpolation of Refractivity for Radio Occultation Data Assimilation, Mont. Weather Rev., 147, 269–289, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-18-0223.1, 2019. a
Gleisner, H., Ringer, M. A., and Healy, S. B.: Monitoring global climate change using GNSS radio occultation, Clim. Atmos. Sci., 5, 6, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-022-00229-7, 2022. a
Hauschild, A., Montenbruck, O., and Steigenberger, P.: Short-term analysis of GNSS clocks, GPS Sol., 17, 295–307, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-012-0278-4, 2013. a, b, c, d
Ho, S.-P., Zhou, X., Shao, X., Zhang, B., Adhikari, L., Kireev, S., He, Y., Yoe, J. G., Xia-Serafino, W., and Lynch, E.: Initial Assessment of the COSMIC-2/FORMOSAT-7 Neutral Atmosphere Data Quality in NESDIS/STAR Using In Situ and Satellite Data, Remote Sens., 12, 4099, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12244099, 2020. a
Innerkofler, J., Kirchengast, G., Schwärz, M., Pock, C., Jäggi, A., Andres, Y., and Marquardt, C.: Precise Orbit Determination for Climate Applications of GNSS Radio Occultation including Uncertainty Estimation, Remote Sens., 12, 1180, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12071180, 2020. a, b
Jaduszliwer, B. and Camparo, J.: Past, present and future of atomic clocks for GNSS, GPS Sol., 25, 27, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-020-01059-x, 2021. a
Jäggi, A., Hugentobler, U., Bock, H., and Beutler, G.: Precise orbit determination for GRACE using undifferenced or doubly differenced GPS data, Adv. Sp. Res., 39, 1612–1619, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2007.03.012, 2007. a
Kursinski, E. R., Hajj, G. A., Schofield, J. T., Linfield, R. P., and Hardy, K. R.: Observing Earth's atmosphere with radio occultation measurements using the Global Positioning System, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 102, 23429–23465, https://doi.org/10.1029/97JD01569, 1997. a, b, c, d
Lonitz, K., Marquardt, C., Bowler, N., and Healy, S.: Final Technical Note of 'Impact assessment of commercial GNSS-RO data', ECMWF, https://doi.org/10.21957/wrh6voyyi, 2021. a
Mao, X., Arnold, D., Kalarus, M., Padovan, S., and Jäggi, A.: GNSS-based precise orbit determination for maneuvering LEO satellites, GPS Sol., 27, 147, 2019. a
Maronna, R. A., Douglas Martin, R., Yohai, V. J., and Salibián-Barrera, M.: Robust Statistics: Theory and Methods (with R), Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Hoboken, NJ, 2nd edn., ISBN 9781119214687, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119214656, 2019. a
Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pirani, A., Connors, S., Péan, C., Berger, S., Caud, N., Chen, Y., Goldfarb, L., Gomis, M., Huang, M., Leitzell, K., Lonnoy, E., Matthews, J., Maycock, T., Waterfield, T., Yelekçi, O., Yu, R., and Zhou, B. (Eds.): Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157896, 2021. a
McHugh, M., Shao, H., Anthes, R., Ruston, B., Marquardt, C., and ROMEX members: Radio Occultation Modeling Experiment (ROMEX) Framework, White Paper, https://irowg.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/ROMEX-Whitepaper-8-3-23.pdf (last access: 25 April 2024), 2023. a
Montenbruck, O., van Helleputte, T., Kroes, R., and Gill, E.: Reduced dynamic orbit determination using GPS code and carrier measurements, Aerosp. Sci. Techn., 9, 261–271, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ast.2005.01.003, 2005. a
Montenbruck, O., Andres, Y., Bock, H., van Helleputte, T., van den Ijssel, J., Loiselet, M., Marquardt, C., Silvestrin, P., Visser, P., and Yoon, Y.: Tracking and orbit determination performance of the GRAS instrument on MetOp-A, GPS Sol., 12, 289–299, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-008-0091-2, 2008. a
Montenbruck, O., Hackel, S., and Jäggi, A.: Precise orbit determination of the Sentinel-3A altimetry satellite using ambiguity-fixed GPS carrier phase observations, J. Geod., 92, 711–726, https://doi.org/10.1007/S00190-017-1090-2, 2018. a
Montenbruck, O., Hackel, S., Wermuth, M., and Zangerl, F.: Sentinel-6A precise orbit determination using a combined GPS/Galileo receiver, J. Geod., 95, 109, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-021-01563-z, 2021. a
Paolella, S., Von Engeln, A., Padovan, S., Notarpietro, R., Marquardt, C., Sancho, F., Rivas Boscan, V., Morew, N., and Martin Alemany, F.: Assessment of Operational Non-Time Critical Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich Radio Occultation Data: Insights into Tropospheric GNSS Signal Cutoff Strategies and Processor Improvements, Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-82, in review, 2024. a, b
Prange, L., Villiger, A., Sidorov, D., Schaer, S., Beutler, G., Dach, R., and Jäggi, A.: Overview of CODE’s MGEX solution with the focus on Galileo, Adv. Sp. Res., 66, 2786–2798, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2020.04.038, 2020. a
Schaer, S., Villiger, A., Arnold, D., Dach, R., Prange, L., and Jäggi, A.: The CODE ambiguity-fixed clock and phase bias analysis products: generation, properties, and performance, J. Geod., 2021, 81, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00190-021-01521-9, 2021. a
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Short summary
Using about 120 000 occultations recorded by the Sentinel-6A and COSMIC-2 satellites, we show that using high-rate (1 s) GLONASS clock products greatly improves GLONASS occultation statistics and vertical error correlation. For GPS, the best performance is obtained with 5 s clock products. These findings result from the short-timescale behavior of the onboard atomic clocks and are important given the impact of radio occultation measurements on numerical weather predictions and climate studies.
Using about 120 000 occultations recorded by the Sentinel-6A and COSMIC-2 satellites, we show...
