One-dimensional variational retrieval of refractivity profiles by GPS occultation *†

In recent years, the technique of Global Positioning System/Low Earth Orbit (GPS/LEO) radio occultation has opened up a new route for exploring the earth atmosphere. With this technique, the vertical profiles of pressure, temperature, water vapor of the earth atmosphere can be retrieved from GPS/LEO occultation data, thus making the latter a potentially valuable data resource for meteorological and atmospheric sciences. The technique may effectively improve the quality of the meteorological profiles, and so improve the current numerical weather forecasting model. In the one-dimensional variational (1DVAR) assimilation retrieval technique in current use, the profiles of atmospheric water vapor and temperature, as well as the sea level pressure are retrieved by assimilating the atmospheric refractivity or bending angle profile from GPS/LEO occultation data. In the system independently developed at Shanghai Observatory, the 1DVAR assimilation of CPS occultation data is accomplished by the Levenberg-Marquardt method with the analytical data from the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) as the background field, the refractivity profile obtained from CHAMP occultation data as the observational quantity. The result was checked with sounding balloon data near the occultation points.