GNSS data from the geodetic receivers of global and regional ground networks are operationally analysed at GFZ in near-real time. The atmospheric data products, like zenith total delay and converted integrated water vapour above the ground stations, are provided for the operational assimilation to the weather prediction models and for special scientific investigations. Currently more than 600 GNSS stations are in the operational near-real time analysis (status as of February 2025), around 300 of them are from the German SAPOS network, others are from the European EUREF network as well as from the globally distributed IGS stations. Within the framework of E-GVAP (The EUMETNET EIG GNSS water vapour programme), the GNSS data products are made operationally available to the European weather services.
GFZ also supports permanent and temporary atmospheric measuring campaigns with the installation and operation of GNSS ground stations and corresponding data analysis. One of the examples of this work is operation of six GNSS receivers on the sites of WegenerNet | 3D open-air laboratory for climate change research in cooperation with University of Graz, Austria.
Specific data, such as slant delays in parallel from up to 40 navigation satellites and tropospheric gradients, are currently used for studies to improve the precipitation forecast of the German Weather Service DWD.
The GNSS data of the GRUAN network (GCOS Reference Upper Air Network) of the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) are also analysed at GFZ and contribute to the GCOS (Global Climate Observing System). GNSS receivers are an integrated part of the observation equipment of the currently 33 globally distributed GRUAN observatories to investigate climatological variations of the Earth’s atmosphere.
References
Dick, G., Wickert, J., Zus, F., Männel, B., Bradke, M., Ramatschi, M., Brandt, A. (2024): GFZ GNSS-derived tropospheric data products (ultra-rapid). V. 1.0. GFZ Data Services, doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.1.1.2024.002
Dick, G., Wickert, J., Zus, F., Männel, B., Bradke, M., Ramatschi, M., Brandt, A. (2024): GFZ GNSS-derived precipitable water vapor for climate reference network GRUAN. V. 1.0. GFZ Data Services, doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.1.1.2024.003
Dick, G., Zus, F., Wickert, J., Männel, B., and Ramatschi, M. (2024): GNSS Precipitable Water Vapour for Climate Monitoring, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-11213, doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-11213
Thundathil, R., Zus, F., Dick, G., Wickert, J. (2024): Assimilation of GNSS tropospheric gradients into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model version 4.4.1. - Geoscientific Model Development, 17, 9, 3599-3616, doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3599-2024
Zus, F., Oertel, A., Thundathil, R., Dick, G., Knippertz, P., and Wickert, J. (2024): Validation of GNSS-based Integrated Water Vapor for the Swabian MOSES 2023 field campaign, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-8792, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-8792
Zus, F., Thundathil, R., Dick, G., Wickert, J. (2023): Fast Observation Operator for Global Navigation Satellite System Tropospheric Gradients. - Remote Sensing, 15, 21, 5114, doi.org/10.3390/rs15215114
- ADVANTAGE (Advanced Technologies for Navigation and Geodesy)
- AMUSE (Advanced MUlti-GNSS Array for Monitoring Severe Weather Events)
- COPS-GRID (Improvement of precipitation forecast with GPS)
- Estimating climatic trends using GNSS
- GNSS Tomography (GNSS Water Vapour Tomography)
- TRYAT (TRack Your ATmosphere)
