Experiment on driving precipitable water vapor from ground-based GPS network in Chengdu Plain

The estimates of total zenith delay are derived using Bernese GPS Software V4. 2 based on GPS data every 30 s from the first measurement experiment of a ground-based GPS network in Chengdu Plain of Southwest China during the period from July to September 2004. Then the estimates of 0.5 hourly precipitable water vapor (PWV) derived from global positioning system (GPS) are obtained using meteorological data from automatic weather stations (AWS). The comparison of PWV derived from GPS and those from radiosonde observations is given for the Chengdu station, with RMS (root mean square) differences of 3.09m. The consistency of precipitable water vapor derived from GPS to those from radiosonde is good. It is concluded that Bevis’ empirical formula for estimating the weighted atmospheric mean temperature can be applicable in Chengdu area because the relationship of GPS PWV with Bevis’ formula and GPS PWV with radiosonde method shows a high correlation. The result of this GPS measurement experiment is helpful both for accumulating the study of precipitable water vapor derived from GPS in Chengdu areas located at the eastern side of the Tibetan Plateau and for studying spatial-temporal variations of regional atmospheric water vapor through many disciplines cooperatively.