Citation
Abstract
Eight water vapor radiometers (WVRs) have been constructed as research and development tools to support the Advanced Systems Program in the Deep Space Network and the Crustal Dynamics Project. These instruments are intended to operate at the stations of the Deep Space Network (DSN), various radio observatories, and mobile facilities that participate in very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) experiments. It is expected that the WVRs will operate in a wide range of meteorological conditions, Several algorithms are discussed that can be used to estimate the line-of-sight path delay due to water vapor and columnar liquid water from the observed microwave brightness temperatures provided by the WVRs. In particular, systematic effects due to site and seasonal variations are examined. The accuracy of the estimation as indicated by a simulation catculation is approximately 0.3 em for a noiseless WVR in clear and moderately cloudy weather. With a realistic noise model of WVR behavior, the inversion accuracy is approximately 0.6 cm.
Details
- Volume
- 42-76
- Published
- February 15, 1984
- Pages
- 12–26
- File Size
- 1.0 MB