Troposphere mapping functions for GPS and very long baseline interferometry from European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts operational analysis data

TLDR

Geodetic VLBI and GPS analyses typically use a three‑parameter continued‑fraction mapping function based on 1/sin(elevation) to model atmospheric delay. The authors re‑determined the b and c coefficients of the hydrostatic mapping function from ERA‑40 reanalysis data for 2001 and then applied the resulting hydrostatic and wet mapping functions—combined with various a priori zenith delays—to all IVS R1 and R4 24‑hour VLBI sessions of 2002–2003 to assess baseline length repeatability and station height changes. The updated mapping functions, with day‑of‑year‑dependent c coefficients that break equatorial symmetry, introduce up to 2 mm systematic height biases at the equator and seasonal variations of 0–4 mm at the poles, yet they improve VLBI baseline length repeatability slightly compared to the previous VMF.

Abstract

In the analyses of geodetic very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) and GPS data the analytic form used for mapping of the atmosphere delay from zenith to the line of site is most often a three‐parameter continued fraction in 1/sin(elevation). Using the 40 years reanalysis (ERA‐40) data of the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts for the year 2001, the b and c coefficients of the continued fraction form for the hydrostatic mapping functions have been redetermined. Unlike previous mapping functions based on data from numerical weather models (isobaric mapping functions (Niell, 2000) and Vienna mapping functions (VMF) (Boehm and Schuh, 2004)), the new c coefficients are dependent on the day of the year, and unlike the Niell mapping functions (Niell, 1996) they are no longer symmetric with respect to the equator (apart from the opposite phase for the two hemispheres). Compared to VMF, this causes an effect on the VLBI or GPS station heights that is constant and as large as 2 mm at the equator and that varies seasonally between 4 mm and 0 mm at the poles. The updated VMF, based on these new coefficients and called VMF1 hereinafter, yields slightly better baseline length repeatabilities for VLBI data. The hydrostatic and wet mapping functions are applied in various combinations with different kinds of a priori zenith delays in the analyses of all VLBI International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry (IVS)‐R1 and IVS‐R4 24‐hour sessions of 2002 and 2003; the investigations concentrate on baseline length repeatabilities, as well as on absolute changes of station heights.