Space Geodetic Sensing of Atmospheric Water Vapor and Its Application

The impact of atmospheric water vapor on radio wave propagation is one of the biggest sources of error for space geodetic positioning. By flipping this problem into one where we use the space geodetic measurements to estimate water vapor content, we can transform geodetic measurements into valuable sources of meteorological observations. In this chapter, we first lay out the theoretical basis for the retrieval of water vapor content from radio wave signals and provide an overview of evolving research efforts to extract ever more detailed water vapor information from space geodetic sensing data. We then investigate the particular characteristics of estimates from different geodetic techniques and the ways in which these estimates can be employed for meteorological applications.