Applications of geodetic techniques to atmospheric and environmental studies

Precipitable water vapor (PWV), surface soil moisture, snow depth, hydrologic loading, vegetation growth, and total canopy water storage are important properties for climate studies and are often measured with many different instruments. Today, these can be measured with GPS/GNSS technology and are freely available as data products through UNAVCO, UCAR, and PBO H2O. UNAVCO, a National Science Foundation funded Earth Science Geodetic Facility, manages the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) with ~1100 GPS stations and analyzes an additional 600+ stations from other public networks. Originally installed to measure the strain and deformation of the western United States, data from PBO and the GPS satellite radio signals are used to derive atmospheric and environmental data products. This presentation will focus on the suite of products and tools freely available and include examples of applications to real world research and data exploration. We welcome input on the products usefulness and suggestions for improving the products and tools to explore and display the data.