Adaptive Voxel-Division Method of GNSS Water Vapor Tomography and Its Application in Data Assimilation

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) water vapor tomography technique can retrieve high-quality water vapor profiles and holds significant potential for improving the performance of the initial 3-D water vapor field in numerical weather prediction (NWP). However, the empirical voxel-divisio...

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Main Authors: Yongjie Ma, Qingzhi Zhao, Duoduo Jiang, Wanqiang Yao, Yibin Yao, Jinfang Yin, Hongwu Guo, Yuan Zhai, Ying Xu, Ruikun Wang, Qingfang Chen, Jingyu Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11038939/
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author Yongjie Ma
Qingzhi Zhao
Duoduo Jiang
Wanqiang Yao
Yibin Yao
Jinfang Yin
Hongwu Guo
Yuan Zhai
Ying Xu
Ruikun Wang
Qingfang Chen
Jingyu Zhang
author_facet Yongjie Ma
Qingzhi Zhao
Duoduo Jiang
Wanqiang Yao
Yibin Yao
Jinfang Yin
Hongwu Guo
Yuan Zhai
Ying Xu
Ruikun Wang
Qingfang Chen
Jingyu Zhang
author_sort Yongjie Ma
collection DOAJ
description The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) water vapor tomography technique can retrieve high-quality water vapor profiles and holds significant potential for improving the performance of the initial 3-D water vapor field in numerical weather prediction (NWP). However, the empirical voxel-division method of GNSS water vapor tomography has been predominantly used before, and existing tomographic results are rarely incorporated into the NWP models due to the lack of a direct assimilation interface, which becomes the focus of this study. An adaptive voxel-division method for GNSS water vapor tomography is first proposed. The optimal horizontal and vertical steps of water vapor tomography are determined by introducing the principles of maximum grid coverage and the equal amount of layered water vapor. In addition, a two-step variational assimilation method has been developed to address the limitation of existing NWP models without a direct interface for assimilating GNSS water vapor tomographic results. The proposed water vapor tomography method and its application in the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model are comprehensively analyzed and evaluated. Numerical results in Hong Kong show the superior performance of the proposed adaptive voxel-division method for GNSS water vapor tomography compared with empirical methods. The average improvement rate of the root-mean-square error (RMSE) in the water vapor profile ranges from 10.6% to 48.7%, while that in the integrated water vapor is 19.0–42.9% . Furthermore, the assimilated and forecasted results of assimilating GNSS tomographic results under different weather conditions are validated and proved the significantly positive contributions of water vapor profiles to the WRF model. Specifically, the RMSE reduction in precipitation is 43.5%, while that for relative humidity, temperature, and pressure are 50.7% /58.2%, 41.1% /48.3%, and 24.2% /33.7%, respectively, under no-rain and rain conditions compared with the traditional assimilation method. These results show the good performance of the proposed adaptive voxel-division method for water vapor tomography and the two-step method for assimilating the tomographic water vapor profile, which highlight the significant potential of the GNSS tomographic result for data assimilation.
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publishDate 2025-01-01
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record_format Article
series IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
spelling doaj-art-518ca1eca04746c88f43451d7acf4e4f2025-08-20T03:31:38ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing1939-14042151-15352025-01-0118156431565810.1109/JSTARS.2025.358055511038939Adaptive Voxel-Division Method of GNSS Water Vapor Tomography and Its Application in Data AssimilationYongjie Ma0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3723-878XQingzhi Zhao1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6715-0877Duoduo Jiang2Wanqiang Yao3Yibin Yao4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7723-4601Jinfang Yin5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2236-4633Hongwu Guo6Yuan Zhai7Ying Xu8https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7622-9926Ruikun Wang9Qingfang Chen10Jingyu Zhang11Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, ChinaXi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, ChinaXi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, ChinaXi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, ChinaWuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Urban Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Urban Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, ChinaCollege of Geodesy and Geomatics, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, ChinaXi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, ChinaXi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, ChinaXi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an, ChinaThe global navigation satellite system (GNSS) water vapor tomography technique can retrieve high-quality water vapor profiles and holds significant potential for improving the performance of the initial 3-D water vapor field in numerical weather prediction (NWP). However, the empirical voxel-division method of GNSS water vapor tomography has been predominantly used before, and existing tomographic results are rarely incorporated into the NWP models due to the lack of a direct assimilation interface, which becomes the focus of this study. An adaptive voxel-division method for GNSS water vapor tomography is first proposed. The optimal horizontal and vertical steps of water vapor tomography are determined by introducing the principles of maximum grid coverage and the equal amount of layered water vapor. In addition, a two-step variational assimilation method has been developed to address the limitation of existing NWP models without a direct interface for assimilating GNSS water vapor tomographic results. The proposed water vapor tomography method and its application in the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model are comprehensively analyzed and evaluated. Numerical results in Hong Kong show the superior performance of the proposed adaptive voxel-division method for GNSS water vapor tomography compared with empirical methods. The average improvement rate of the root-mean-square error (RMSE) in the water vapor profile ranges from 10.6% to 48.7%, while that in the integrated water vapor is 19.0–42.9% . Furthermore, the assimilated and forecasted results of assimilating GNSS tomographic results under different weather conditions are validated and proved the significantly positive contributions of water vapor profiles to the WRF model. Specifically, the RMSE reduction in precipitation is 43.5%, while that for relative humidity, temperature, and pressure are 50.7% /58.2%, 41.1% /48.3%, and 24.2% /33.7%, respectively, under no-rain and rain conditions compared with the traditional assimilation method. These results show the good performance of the proposed adaptive voxel-division method for water vapor tomography and the two-step method for assimilating the tomographic water vapor profile, which highlight the significant potential of the GNSS tomographic result for data assimilation.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11038939/Data assimilationglobal navigation satellite system (GNSS)voxel divisionwater vapor tomography
spellingShingle Yongjie Ma
Qingzhi Zhao
Duoduo Jiang
Wanqiang Yao
Yibin Yao
Jinfang Yin
Hongwu Guo
Yuan Zhai
Ying Xu
Ruikun Wang
Qingfang Chen
Jingyu Zhang
Adaptive Voxel-Division Method of GNSS Water Vapor Tomography and Its Application in Data Assimilation
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Data assimilation
global navigation satellite system (GNSS)
voxel division
water vapor tomography
title Adaptive Voxel-Division Method of GNSS Water Vapor Tomography and Its Application in Data Assimilation
title_full Adaptive Voxel-Division Method of GNSS Water Vapor Tomography and Its Application in Data Assimilation
title_fullStr Adaptive Voxel-Division Method of GNSS Water Vapor Tomography and Its Application in Data Assimilation
title_full_unstemmed Adaptive Voxel-Division Method of GNSS Water Vapor Tomography and Its Application in Data Assimilation
title_short Adaptive Voxel-Division Method of GNSS Water Vapor Tomography and Its Application in Data Assimilation
title_sort adaptive voxel division method of gnss water vapor tomography and its application in data assimilation
topic Data assimilation
global navigation satellite system (GNSS)
voxel division
water vapor tomography
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11038939/
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