Meteorological applications of precipitable water vapor measurements retrieved by the national GNSS network of China

In this study, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network of China is discussed, which can be used to monitor atmospheric precipitable water vapor (PWV). By the end of 2013, the network had 952 GNSS sites, including 260 belonging to the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) and 692 belonging to the China Meteorological Administration GNSS network (CMAGN). Additionally, GNSS observation collecting and data processing procedures are presented and PWV data quality control methods are investigated. PWV levels as determined by GNSS and radiosonde are compared. The results show that GNSS estimates are generally in good agreement with measurements of radiosondes and water vapor radiometers (WVR). The PWV retrieved by the national GNSS network is used in weather forecasting, assimilation of data into numerical weather prediction models, the validation of PWV estimates by radiosonde, and plum rain monitoring. The network is also used to monitor the total ionospheric electron content.