Evaluation of surface temperature and pressure derived from MERRA-2 and ERA5 reanalysis datasets and their applications in hourly GNSS precipitable water vapor retrieval over China

Temperature and pressure play key roles in Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS) precipitable water vapor(PWV) retrieval. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) and European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) have released their latest reanalysis product: the modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications, version 2(MERRA-2) and the fifthgeneration ECMWF reanalysis(ERA5), respectively. Based on the reanalysis data, we evaluate and analyze the accuracy of the surface temperature and pressure products in China using the the measured temperature and pressure data from 609 ground meteorological stations in 2017 as reference values.Then the accuracy of the two datasets and their performances in estimating GNSS PWV are analyzed. The PWV derived from the pressure and temperature products of ERA5 and MERRA-2 has high accuracy. The annual average biases of pressure and temperature for ERA5 are-0.07 hPa and 0.45 K, with the root mean square error(RMSE) of 0.95 hPa and 2.04 K, respectively. The annual average biases of pressure and temperature for MERRA-2 are-0.01 hPa and 0.38 K, with the RMSE of 1.08 h Pa and 2.66 K, respectively.The accuracy of ERA5 is slightly higher than that of MERRA-2. The two reanalysis data show negative biases in most regions of China, with the highest to lowest accuracy in the following order: the south,north, northwest, and Tibet Plateau. Comparing the GNSS PWV calculated using MERRA-2(GNSS MERRA-2 PWV) and ERA5(GNSS ERA5 PWV) with the radiosonde-derived PWV from 48 co-located GNSS stations and the measured PWV of the co-location radiosonde stations, it is found that the accuracy of GNSS ERA5 PWV is better than that of GNSS MERRA-2 PWV. These results show the different applicability of surface temperature and pressure products from MERRA-2 and ERA5 data, indicating that both have important applications in meteorological research and GNSS water vapor monitoring in China.

Decadal trends in precipitable water vapor over the Indus River Basin using ERA5 reanalysis data

Precipitable Water Vapor(PWV)constitutes a pivotal parameter within the domains of atmospheric science,and remote sensing due to its profound influence on Earth’s climate dynamics and weather patterns.It exerts a significant impact on atmospheric stability absorption and emission of radiation,thus engendering alterations in the Earth’s radiative equilibrium.As such,precise quantification of PWV holds the potential to enhance weather prognostication and fortify preparedness against severe meteorological phenomena.This study aimed to elucidate the spatial and temporal changes in seasonal and annual PWV across the Indus River Basin and its sub-basins using ERA5 reanalysis datasets.The present study used ERA5 PWV(entire atmospheric column),air temperature at 2 m(t2m)and 500 hPa(T_500hPa),evapotranspiration,and total cloud cover data from 1960 to 2021.Theil Sen slope estimator and Mann-Kendall test were used for trend analysis.Correlation and multiple regression methods were used to understand the association of PWV with other factors.The findings have unveiled the highest increase in mean PWV during the monsoon(0.40 mm/decade),followed by premonsoon(0.37 mm/decade),post-monsoon(0.27 mm/decade),and winter(0.19 mm/decade)throughout the study period.Additionally,the mean PWV exhibited the most pronounced positive trend in the sub-basin Lower Indus(LI),followed by Panjnad(P),Kabul(K),and Upper Indus(UI)across all seasons,except winter.Annual PWV has also risen in the Indus basin and its sub-basins over the last six decades.PWV exhibits a consistent upward trend up to an elevation of 3500 m within the basin which is most pronounced during the monsoon season,followed by the pre-monsoon.The escalating PWV within the basin is reasonably ascribed to increasing air temperatures,augmented evapotranspiration,and heightened cloud cover.These findings hold potential utility for pertinent authorities engaged in water resource management and planning.

Rising trends of global precipitable water vapor and its correlation with flood frequency

Using 4 global reanalysis data sets, significant upward trends of precipitable water vapor(PWV) were found in the 3 time periods of 1958-2020, 1979-2020, and 2000-2020. During 1958-2020, the global PWV trends obtained using the ERA5 and JRA55 data sets are 0.19 ± 0.01 mm per decade(1.15 ± 0.31%)and 0.23 ± 0.01 mm per decade(1.45 ± 0.32%), respectively. The PWV trends obtained using the ERA5,JRA55, NCEP-NCAR, and NCEP-DOE data sets are 0.22 ± 0.01 mm per decade(1.18 ± 0.54%),0.21 ± 0.00 mm per decade(1.76 ± 0.56%), 0.27 ± 0.01 mm per decade(2.20 ± 0.70%) and 0.28 ± 0.01 mm per decade(2.19 ± 0.70%) for the period 1979-2020. During 2000-2020, the PWV trends obtained using ERA5, JRA55, NCEP-DOE, and NCEP-NCAR data sets are 0.40 ± 0.25 mm per decade(2.66 ± 1.51%),0.37 ± 0.24 mm per decade(2.19 ± 1.54%), 0.40 ± 0.26 mm per decade(1.96 ± 1.53%) and 0.36 ± 0.25 mm per decade(2.47 ± 1.72%), respectively. Rising PWV has a positive impact on changes in precipitation,increasing the probability of extreme precipitation and then changing the frequency of flood disasters.Therefore, exploring the relationship between PWV(derived from ERA5 and JRA55) change and flood disaster frequency from 1958 to 2020 revealed a significant positive correlation between them, with correlation coefficients of 0.68 and 0.79, respectively, which explains the effect of climate change on the increase in flood disaster frequency to a certain extent. The study can provide a reference for assessing the evolution of flood disasters and predicting their frequency trends.

Seasonal Difference of the Spatio-Temporal Variation of Precipitable Water Vapor in China

This study analyzes the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of seasonal precipitable water vapor (PWV) in China between 1979 and 2008. To achieve this, the observed temperature dew point difference and atmospheric pressure at various altitudes of 102 radiosonde stations were utilized. The analysis involved calculating and examining the PWV variations across the different seasons in the study period. The results are illustrated as follows: 1) The annual mean and seasonal mean PWV over China is characterized by decreasing from southeast to northwest. The PWV has obvious seasonal features. It is the least in winter, which is mainly affected by latitude and altitude, and the most in summer, which is mainly affected by the monsoon. It is the medium in spring and autumn, with more in autumn than in spring. 2) The spatial distribution pattern of four seasonal PWV is approximately opposite to its variation coefficient distribution pattern, that is, the monsoon (non-monsoon) areas with more (less) PWV have a smaller (larger) variation amplitude. 3) The distribution pattern of four seasonal PWV shows a consistent distribution pattern in the whole region and the winter characteristics are the most significant. The abnormal variation of PWV shows consistent interdecadal oscillation, and it exhibits an obvious phase transition around 2002 when the PWV has an increasing shift in winter, spring, and summer, while it is more complicated in autumn.

Diurnal variation of precipitable water vapor over Central and South America

Annual and seasonal diurnal precipitable water vapor(PWV)variations over Central and South America are analyzed for the period 2007-2013.PWV values were obtained from Global Navigation Satellite Systems(GNSS)observations of sixty-nine GNSS tracking stations.Histograms by climate categories show that PWV values for temperate,polar and cold dry climate have a positive skewed distribution and for tropical climates(except for monsoon subtype)show a negative skewed distribution.The diurnal PWV and surface temperatures(T)anomaly datasets are analyzed by using principal components analysis(PCA).The first two modes represent more than 90%of the PWV variability.The first PCA mode of PWV variability shows a maximum amplitude value in the late afternoon few hours later than the respective values for surface temperature(T),therefore the temperature and the surface conditions(to yield evaporation)could be the main agents producing this variability;PWV variability in inland stations are mainly represented by this mode.The second mode of PWV variability shows a maximum amplitude at midnight,a possible explanation of this behavior is the effect of the sea/valley breeze.The coastal and valley stations are affected by this mode in most cases.Finally,the"undefined"stations,surrounded by several water bodies,are mainly affected by the second mode with negative eigenvectors.In the seasonal analysis,both the undefined and valley stations constitute the main cases that show a sea or valley breeze only during some seasons,while the rest of the year they present a behavior according to their temperature and the surface conditions.As a result,the PCA proves to be a useful numerical tool to represent the main sub-daily PWV variabilities.

Retrieval of Oceanic Total Precipitable Water Vapor and Cloud Liquid Water from Fengyun-3D Microwave Sounding Instruments

Fengyun-3 D(FY-3 D) satellite is the latest polar-orbiting meteorological satellite launched by China and carries 10 instruments onboard. Its microwave temperature sounder(MWTS) and microwave humidity sounder(MWHS) can acquire a total of 28 channels of brightness temperatures, providing rich information for profiling atmospheric temperature and moisture. However, due to a lack of two important frequencies at 23.8 and 31.4 GHz, it is difficult to retrieve the total precipitable water vapor(TPW) and cloud liquid water path(CLW) from FY-3 D microwave sounder data as commonly done for other microwave sounding instruments. Using the channel similarity between Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership(NPP) advanced technology microwave sounder(ATMS) and FY-3 D microwave sounding instruments, a machine learning(ML) technique is used to generate the two missing low-frequency channels of MWTS and MWHS. Then, a new dataset named as combined microwave sounder(CMWS) is obtained,which has the same channel setting as ATMS but the spatial resolution is consistent with MWTS. A statistical inversion method is adopted to retrieve TPW and CLW over oceans from the FY-3 D CMWS. The intercomparison between different satellites shows that the inversion products of FY-3 D CMWS and Suomi NPP ATMS have good consistency in magnitude and distribution. The correlation coefficients of retrieved TPW and CLW between CMWS and ATMS can reach 0.95 and 0.85, respectively.

Spatiotemporal characteristics of GNSS-derived precipitable water vapor during heavy rainfall events in Guilin,China

Precipitable Water Vapor(PWV),as an important indicator of atmospheric water vapor,can be derived from Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS)observations with the advantages of high precision and all-weather capacity.GNSS-derived PWV with a high spatiotemporal resolution has become an important source of observations in mete-orology,particularly for severe weather conditions,for water vapor is not well sampled in the current meteorological observing systems.In this study,an empirical atmospheric weighted mean temperature(Tm)model for Guilin is estab-lished using the radiosonde data from 2012 to 2017.Then,the observations at 11 GNSS stations in Guilin are used to investigate the spatiotemporal features of GNSS-derived PWV under the heavy rainfalls from June to July 2017.The results show that the new Tm model in Guilin has better performance with the mean bias and Root Mean Square(RMS)of−0.51 and 2.12 K,respectively,compared with other widely used models.Moreover,the GNSS PWV estimates are validated with the data at Guilin radiosonde station.Good agreements are found between GNSS-derived PWV and radiosonde-derived PWV with the mean bias and RMS of−0.9 and 3.53 mm,respectively.Finally,an investigation on the spatiotemporal characteristics of GNSS PWV during heavy rainfalls in Guilin is performed.It is shown that variations of PWV retrieved from GNSS have a direct relationship with the in situ rainfall measurements,and the PWV increases sharply before the arrival of a heavy rainfall and decreases to a stable state after the cease of the rainfall.It also reveals the moisture variation in several regions of Guilin during a heavy rainfall,which is significant for the moni-toring of rainfalls and weather forecast.

Water Vapor Retrievals from Near-infrared Channels of the Advanced Medium Resolution Spectral Imager Instrument onboard the Fengyun-3D Satellite

Water vapor plays a key role in weather, climate and environmental research on local and global scales. Knowledge about atmospheric water vapor and its spatiotemporal variability is essential for climate and weather research. Because of the advantage of a unique temporal and spatial resolution, satellite observations provide global or regional water vapor distributions. The advanced Medium Resolution Spectral Imager (MERSI) instrument-that is, MERSI-II-onboard the Fengyun-3D (FY-3D) meteorological satellite, has been one of the major satellite sensors routinely providing precipitable water vapor (PWV) products to the community using near-infrared (NIR) measurements since June 2018. In this paper, the major updates related to the production of the NIR PWV products of MERSI-II are discussed for the first time. In addition, the water vapor retrieval algorithm based on the MERSI-II NIR channels is introduced and derivations are made over clear land areas, clouds, and sun-glint areas over the ocean. Finally, the status and samples of the MERSI-II PWV products are presented. The accuracy of MERSI-II PWV products is validated using ground-based GPS measurements. The results show that the accuracies of the water vapor products based on the updated MERSI-II instrument are significantly improved compared with those of MERSI, because MERSI-II provides a better channel setting and new calibration method. The root- mean-square error and relative bias of MERSI-II PWV products are typically 1.8-5.5 mm and −3.0% to −14.3%, respectively, and thus comparable with those of other global remote sensing products of the same type.

Identifying water vapor sources of precipitation in forest and grassland in the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains,Central Asia

Identifying water vapor sources in the natural vegetation of the Tianshan Mountains is of significant importance for obtaining greater knowledge about the water cycle,forecasting water resource changes,and dealing with the adverse effects of climate change.In this study,we identified water vapor sources of precipitation and evaluated their effects on precipitation stable isotopes in the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains,China.By utilizing the temporal and spatial distributions of precipitation stable isotopes in the forest and grassland regions,Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory(HYSPLIT)model,and isotope mass balance model,we obtained the following results.(1)The Eurasia,Black Sea,and Caspian Sea are the major sources of water vapor.(2)The contribution of surface evaporation to precipitation in forests is lower than that in the grasslands(except in spring),while the contribution of plant transpiration to precipitation in forests(5.35%)is higher than that in grasslands(3.79%)in summer.(3)The underlying surface and temperature are the main factors that affect the contribution of recycled water vapor to precipitation;meanwhile,the effects of water vapor sources of precipitation on precipitation stable isotopes are counteracted by other environmental factors.Overall,this work will prove beneficial in quantifying the effect of climate change on local water cycles.

Characteristics of vapor based on complex networks in China

The uneven spatial distribution of stations providing precipitable water vapor(PWV)observations in China hinders the effective use of these data in assimilation,nowcasting,and prediction.In this study,we proposed a complex network framework for exploring the topological structure and the collective behavior of PWV in the mainland of China.We used the Pearson correlation coefficient and transfer entropy to measure the linear and nonlinear relationships of PWV amongst different stations and to set up the undirected and directed complex networks,respectively.Our findings revealed the statistical and geographical distribution of the variables influencing PWV networks and identified the vapor information source and sink stations.Specifically,the findings showed that the statistical and spatial distributions of the undirected and directed complex vapor networks in terms of degree and distance were similar to each other(the common interaction mode for vapor stations and their locations).The betweenness results displayed different features.The largest betweenness ratio for directed networks tended to be larger than that of the undirected networks,implying that the transfer of directed PWV networks was more efficient than that of the undirected networks.The findings of this study are heuristic and will be useful for constructing the best strategy for the PWV data in applications such as vapor observational networks design and precipitation prediction.

Research on PM_(2.5) Concentration Model Based on MODIS Remote Sensing Retrieval

Aiming at the complex variation of haze and the influence of various factors,Xi'an is taken as the research area to study the qualitative and quantitative issues between aerosol optical depth(AOD)and haze before and after correction.Combining atmospheric water vapor content(PWV)and meteorological factor data,it is proposed to use"backward screening"method to carry out regression modeling and verification of the revised PM_(2.5) mass concentration,AOD,PWV and meteorological factors.The results show that the correlation between AOD and PM_(2.5) is significantly improved after vertical correction and humidity correction.From the model's decision coefficient R^(2) and the relative error of the estimated PM_(2.5) mass concentration,it can be seen that the estimation model of PM_(2.5) mass concentration based on multiple impact factors is better than the estimation model solely based on AOD.

Analysis on the Characteristics of GPS-PWV during Heavy Rainfall in Huaihua Region

Using GPS precipitable water vapor( GPS-PWV) inverted based on the advanced ZHD model and localized T_m model,as well as hourly meteorological data from automatic weather station,the variation characteristics of atmospheric water vapor and evolution features of GPS-PWV during 14 heavy rainfall events at Huaihua in 2017 were analyzed. As the results shown,GPS-PWV could reveal the variation characteristics of atmospheric water vapor in Huaihua region well. The monthly change of precipitable water vapor-pressure( PWV-P) data pair was evident. The PWV appeared a lower value with a smaller range accompanied by a 14.75 hPa higher surface air pressure than that in summer when precipitation occurred during winter,which gradually increased with a lower surface air pressure while precipitation occurred during spring. In summer,the PWV rose to the annual peak value with the lowest surface air pressure under rainfall,and it scattered to low-value area in autumn. In 14 heavy rainfall events at Huaihua during flood season of 2017,all of the PWV values exceeded corresponding monthly mean,besides there was a well corresponded relationship between the maximum rainfall and the maximum PWV in hourly scale. Before the heavy rainfall occurred,the PWV increased comparatively distinctly with a clear decrease of the surface air pressure,and that could be a preferably reference point in the local strong precipitation nowcasting.

The GNSS PWV retrieval using non-observation meteorological parameters based on ERA5 and its relation with precipitation

The pressure and temperature significantly influence precipitable water vapor(PWV) retrieval. Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS) PWV retrieval is limited because the GNSS stations lack meteorological sensors. First, this article evaluated the accuracy of pressure and temperature in 68 radiosonde stations in China based on ERA5 Reanalysis data from 2015 to 2019 and compared them with GPT3model. Then, the accuracy of pressure and temperature calculated by ERA5 were estimated in 5 representative IGS stations in China. And the PWV calculated by these meteorological parameters from ERA5(ERA5-PWV) were analyzed. Finally, the relation between ERA5-PWV and precipitation was deeply explored using wavelet coherence analysis in IGS stations. These results indicate that the accuracy of pressure and temperature of ERA5 is better than the GPT3 model. In radiosonde stations, the mean BIAS and MAE of pressure and temperature in ERA5 are-0.41/1.15 hpa and-0.97/2.12 K. And the mean RMSEs are 1.35 hpa and 2.87 K, which improve 74.77% and 40.58% compared with GPT3 model. The errors of pressure and temperature of ERA5 are smaller than the GPT3 model in bjfs, hksl and wuh2, and the accuracy of ERA5-PWV is improved by 18.77% compared with the GPT3 model. In addition, there is a significant positive correlation between ERA5-PWV and precipitation. And precipitation is always associated with the sharp rise of ERA5-PWV, which provides important references for rainfall prediction.

台风期间GNSS-PWV与降雨量的相关性探究——以上海市为例

基于上海市连续运行基准站(continuously operating reference station,CORS)系统中10个基准站2021-09-10—2021-09-14的观测数据,采用实时精密单点定位(precise point positioning,PPP)技术反演大气可降水量(precipitable water vapor,PWV),探究了台风“灿都”期间PWV与实际降雨量的时空交互特征。结果表明,PWV含量与降雨量显著相关,即PWV在降雨发生前激增,降雨期间保持稳定,降雨完成后回落至原水平。此外,PWV的空间演变还可揭示台风影响期间的水汽输送路径。上述特征证明,实时PWV有预警极端降雨的潜力,未来可在CORS系统部署降雨预警模块,进一步拓宽其服务领域。

基于最小二乘法无气象要素的PWV反演

提出了一种无需气象数据,直接用对流层天顶总延迟(zenith total delay,ZTD)推导大气可降水量(precipitable water vapor,PWV)的新方法。该方法从GPS反演大气水汽的反演方程出发,基于最小二乘法建立ZTD推算PWV的模型。结果表明,就BJFS测站而言,模型推算的PWV与GPS反演的PWV的均方根(root mean square,RMS)值为4.5 mm,两者存在一个微小的系统偏差,但相关系数高达0.982。在不研究其数值大小只研究其趋势变化时,可以用模型直接推算PWV,这可为气象学短期预报提供一定参考。