Berlin 2005 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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UP: Umweltphysik

UP 14: Klima und Atmosph
äre

UP 14.3: Fachvortrag

Mittwoch, 9. März 2005, 14:15–14:30, TU HFT101

Using Radio Occultation Data to determine the Planetary Boundary Layer Top — •Axel von Engeln¹, Joao Teixeira², Jens Wickert³, and Stefan Buehler³ — ¹Met Office, Exeter, England — ²NRL, Monterey, USA — ³GFZ, Potsdam, Germany

The CHAMP radio occultation instrument has been measuring profiles of refractivity since 2001. The technique uses signals of the GPS satellite constellations. Further processing of the refractivity profile derives information of the temperature and water vapor in the atmosphere. Although it is hoped that the radio occultation technique will allow to probe into the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL), the signal is currently often lost at the top of it. More advanced tracking algorithms will allow to probe frequently inside the PBL in the future.

Here we use the lowest altitude probed by the CHAMP instrument to determine the PBL top. A comparions with ECMWF data shows good agreement. It is anticipated that this information can be assimilated by Numerical Weather Prediction models.