Water Vapor Tomography in the Swiss AlpsA team of Swiss researchers is using data from a network of GPS receivers and the technique of tomography to obtain profiles of how moisture is distributed with height, which might lead to better weather forecasts.
The September “Innovation” column in this magazine,
“It’s Not All Bad: Understanding and Using GNSS
Multipath,” by Andria Bilich and Kristine Larson (see
www.gpsworld.com/multipath), mentions the use of multipath in studying soil moisture, ocean altimetry and winds, and snow sensing. An experiment the authors conducted, designed to study soil moisture, yielded a surprise bonus: a new methodology for measuring snow depth via GPS multipath. It has important implications for weather and flood forecasting, and could also bring new insight to bear on GPS antenna design.
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