Real-time GPS water vapor meteorology from Siberia and Eurasian Arctic

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University (LDEO), Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), and Russian GPS Data Acquisition and Analysis Center (RDAAC) jointly participate in SuomiNet, a university-based, real-time, national Global Positioning System (GPS) network developed for atmospheric research and education. We installed Metpacks, precise digital meteorological sensors (pressure, temperature, humidity) manufactured by Paroscientific Inc., and Ashtech and Trimble GPS systems at eight sites spanning all Siberia from the Urals Ridge on the west to Kamchatka Peninsula and Sakhalin Island on the east; from the deep continental interior to the Arctic margin at Chukotka and Taimyr peninsulas.

We derive continuously the integrated water vapor content in the troposphere and the total electron content (TEC) in the ionosphere from a combination of phase delays of satellite transmitted signals with the measured surface air pressure over sites representing the northern half of Eurasia. We expect that this "extended arm" of SuomiNet, primarily designed as the North American network, will facilitate an interpretation of the total project data set for purposes of the water vapor climatology. Needless to say that the climate of the Arctic region plays an immense role in controlling the climate of North America.

Our meteorological facility is integrated with the seismological and space geodetic (GPS) equipment at GSN seismic stations in terms of the supervision, internet data transmission, etc. Typically we retrieve the data sampled every 5 min. (meteorology) and 30 s (GPS) daily. Since early 2000 we started retrieving the data every second in real time from Yakutsk (eastern Siberia) as a joint experiment with JPL. The air temperature at this site varies from -64°C in winter to +32°C in summer. It is hoped that such extreme variations in the weather will help advance the research and address many important topics.

The retrieved data are archived at the data center in Moscow and simultaneously at data centers in the US.