A numerical method to improve the spatial interpolation of water vapor from numerical weather models: a case study in South and Central America

Fernández, Laura I.; Meza, Amalia M.; Natali, M. Paula; Bianchi, Clara E.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-37-1181-2019

Articles | Volume 37, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-37-1181-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-37-1181-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 37, issue 6

Regular paper

|

16 Dec 2019

Regular paper |

| 16 Dec 2019

A numerical method to improve the spatial interpolation of water vapor from numerical weather models: a case study in South and Central America

Laura I. Fernández, Amalia M. Meza, M. Paula Natali, and Clara E. Bianchi

Data sets

Time series of atmospheric water vapour and troposphere zenith total delay, over Central and South America, from a homogeneous GNSS reprocessing (MAGGIA ZTD & IWV Solution 1) C. E. Bianchi, L. P. O. Mendoza, L. Fernández, M. P. Natali, A. Meza, and J. Moirano https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.858234

Short summary

Integrated water vapor (IWV) values from ERA-Interim and MERRA-2 were compared to IWV from GNSS at 67 stations in Central and South America over a 7-year period (2007–2013). The comparison considered the geopotential height differences and the mean IWV values at each station. The discrepancies between IWV from the models and IWV GNSS rose as the geopotential height difference increased. We proposed a numerical correction that compensates for this effect, which was tested with IWV ERA-Interim.