High Accuracy Tropospheric Delay Determination Based on Improved Modelling and High Resolution Numerical Weather Model

Jan Dousa, Michal Elias, Henk Veerman, Sam Storm van Leeuwen, Hein Zelle, Siebren de Haan, Antonio Martellucci, Raul Orus Perez

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	In general the assessment of the zenith wet delay (ZWD), which is part of the total zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD), is quite difficult, not only due to limited knowledge of the atmospheric water vapor distribution, but also because of the irregular pattern of the water vapor vertical profile. This problem can be solved adopting a new concept of calculating ZWD, in which the decay rate of the ZWD with height is used instead of the water vapor decay rate. This new decay rate parameter can considerably improve estimation of the ZWD vertical delay. This new approach is used to improve both the ZTD climatological ‘blind’ model’, currently adopted by aeronautical standards, and the ‘augmented’ ZTD models based on actual weather-conditions. Based on 12 years of the world wide ERA-Interim numerical weather model (NWM) data, an improved climatologic model is developed. Using two years of the high accuracy, stateof-the-art Harmonie high resolution NWM in the Netherlands region, it is demonstrated that near-realtime tropospheric delay estimates can be obtained at mm accuracy level and that the estimates are accurately scalable with height, based on the combination of the high resolution NWM and improved tropospheric delay modelling. This result may be beneficial both for precise point positioning applications and high accuracy, high integrity navigation.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 28th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2015) September 14 - 18, 2015 Tampa Convention Center Tampa, Florida
Pages:	3734 - 3744
Cite this article:	Dousa, Jan, Elias, Michal, Veerman, Henk, van Leeuwen, Sam Storm, Zelle, Hein, de Haan, Siebren, Martellucci, Antonio, Perez, Raul Orus, "High Accuracy Tropospheric Delay Determination Based on Improved Modelling and High Resolution Numerical Weather Model," Proceedings of the 28th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2015), Tampa, Florida, September 2015, pp. 3734-3744.
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