Abstract:
Objectives: The weighted mean temperature (T
m) is a key parameter for estimating precipitable water vapor (PWV) from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations. The environment in northwest China is complicated, so it is necessary to establish a suitable atmospheric weighted mean temperature model.
Methods: A novel Voronoi region regression model is presented by incorporating the Voronoi diagram concept into the traditional
Tm regression model and a Voronoi region regression model is built using data from 24 radiosonde stations within the study region from 2017 to 2021. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis data and Global Geodetic Observing System Atmosphere
Tm grid data are then integrated to generate a suitable for the Northwest regional
Tm Augmentation Model (TAM). During the integration process, considering the fact that
Tm decreases with elevation in the near-surface environment, a cubic polynomial model is proposed to correct the
Tm values in the vertical direction.
Results: The model is validated using data from radiosonde stations and GGOS
Tm grid within the study region in 2022, suggesting that TAM model exhibits high accuracy and applicability in the Northwest region, with accuracy improvements of 19.7% and 50.7% compared to the Bevis model, 44.4% and 18.4% compared to GPT3-1 model, 53.8% and 41% compared to GPT3-5 respectively.
Conclusions: The spatial distribution of
Tm estimated by the TAM model exhibits optimal performance, especially in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other high-altitude areas. It is believed that the TAM model holds great potential for high-precision water vapor monitoring with GNSS in mountainous areas.