journal article·2025-07-18Open access

Practical Performance Assessment of Water Vapor Monitoring Using BDS PPP-B2b Service

Linghao Zhou, Enhong Zhang, Hong Liang, Zuquan Hu, Meifang Qu, Xinxin Li, Yunchang Cao

Applied Sciences· Volume 15· Issue 14

Abstract

BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) precise point positioning (PPP)-B2b has significant potential for application in meteorological fields, such as standalone water vapor monitoring in depopulated area without Internet. In this study, the practical ability of water vapor monitoring using the BDS PPP-B2b service is illustrated through a continuously operated water vapor monitoring system in Wuhan, China, with a 25-day experiment in 2025. Original observations from the Global Positioning System (GPS) and BDS are collected and processed in the near real-time (NRT) mode using ephemeris from the PPP-B2b service. Precipitable water vapor PWV monitored with B2b ephemeris are evaluated with radiosonde and ERA5 reanalysis, respectively. Taking PWV from radiosonde observations as the reference, RMS of PWV based on B2b ephemeris varies from 3.71 to 4.66 mm for different satellite combinations. While those values are with a range from 3.95 to 4.55 mm when compared with ERA5 reanalysis. These values are similar to those processed with the real-time ephemeris from the China Academy of Science (CAS). In general, this study demonstrates that the practical accuracy of water vapor monitored based on the BDS PPP-B2b service can meet the basic demand for operational meteorology for the first time. This will provide a scientific reference for its wide promotion to meteorological applications in the near future.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: GNSS positioning and interference · Geophysics and Gravity Measurements · Radio Wave Propagation Studies

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Meteorological Observation Centre, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, China

School of Electronic Information Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

Guangdong Meteorological Data Centre, Guangzhou 510080, China

LaiBin Meteorological Agency of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Laibin 546100, China

Guangxi Meteorological Observatory, Nanning 530022, China

Guangxi Meteorological Technology Equipment Center, Nanning 530022, China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China · Observational Experiment Project of Meteorological Observation Center of China Meteorological Administration · Innovation and development project of China Meteorological Administration

References (46)

Show source-provided references
1. Global atmospheric mass, surface pressure, and water vapor variations10.1029/JD092iD12p14815 ↗
2. Tropospheric water vapor, convection, and climate10.1029/2009RG000301 ↗
3. Zhou, L.H., Cao, Y.C., Shi, C., Liang, H., and Fan, L. (2024). Quantifying the Atmospheric Water Balance Closure over Mainland China Using Ground-Based, Satellite, and Reanalysis Datasets. Atmosphere, 15.10.3390/atmos15040497 ↗
4. Precipitation Extremes and Water Vapor Relationships in Current Climate and Implications for Climate Change10.1007/s40641-021-00177-z ↗
5. Investigation of Precipitation Process in the Water Vapor Channel of the Yarlung Zsangbo Grand Canyon10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0120.1 ↗
6. Revealing the synergistic contribution of PWV and CAPE to extreme precipitation throughout China10.1016/j.asr.2024.11.050 ↗
7. Spatial interpolation of the atmospheric water vapor content between sites in a ground-based GPS network10.1029/98GL02504 ↗
8. Lu, C.X., Chen, X.H., Liu, G., Dick, G., Wickert, J., Jiang, X.Y., Zheng, K., and Schuh, H. (2017). Real-Time Tropospheric Delays Retrieved from Multi-GNSS Observations and IGS Real-Time Product Streams. Remote Sens., 9.10.3390/rs9121317 ↗
9. Zhou, L.H., Fan, L., and Shi, C. (2023). Evaluation and Analysis of Remotely Sensed Water Vapor from the NASA VIIRS/SNPP Product in Mainland China Using GPS Data. Remote Sens., 15.10.3390/rs15061528 ↗
10. The uncertainty of the atmospheric integrated water vapour estimated from GNSS observations10.5194/amt-9-79-2016 ↗
11. GPS meteorology: Remote sensing of atmospheric water vapor using the global positioning system10.1029/92JD01517 ↗
12. Maciejewska, A. (2025). Use of Tropospheric Delay in GNSS-Based Climate Monitoring-A Review. Remote Sens., 17.10.3390/rs17091501 ↗
13. GPS meteorology: Mapping zenith wet delays onto precipitable water10.1175/1520-0450(1994)033<0379:GMMZWD>2.0.CO;2 ↗
14. Corrections of Radiosonde-Based Precipitable Water Using Ground-Based GPS and Applications on Historical Radiosonde Data Over China
15. Comprehensive analysis of zenith tropospheric delay and precipitable water vapor retrieved from BDS-3 B1C and B2a signals10.1016/j.measurement.2024.116079 ↗
16. Dynamic Mapping of the Movement of Landfalling Atmospheric Rivers Over Southern California With GPS Data10.1029/2018GL081318 ↗
17. Long-term correlation analysis between monthly precipitable water vapor and precipitation using GPS data over China10.1016/j.asr.2022.04.026 ↗
18. Wu, Z.L., Lu, C.X., Liu, Y., Lin, H., Zheng, Y.X., Wei, Q., and Liu, Y.X. (2023). Global statistical assessment of Haiyang-2B scanning microwave radiometer precipitable water vapor. Front. Earth Sci., 11.10.3389/feart.2023.1084285 ↗
19. Wang, H.S., Liu, Y.B., Liu, Y.W., Cao, Y.C., Liang, H., Hu, H., Liang, J.S., and Tu, M.H. (2022). Assimilation of GNSS PWV with NCAR-RTFDDA to Improve Prediction of a Landfall Typhoon. Remote Sens., 14.10.3390/rs14010178 ↗
20. Revealing the spatiotemporal patterns of water vapor and its link to North Atlantic Oscillation over Greenland using GPS and ERA5 data10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170596 ↗
21. A new zenith hydrostatic delay model for real-time retrievals of GNSS-PWV10.5194/amt-14-6379-2021 ↗
22. Handling Method for Outages of IGS Real-Time Service (RTS) in GNSS Real-Time Sensing of Atmospheric Water Vapor10.1109/JSTARS.2023.3312514 ↗
23. Near-real-time GNSS tropospheric IWV monitoring system for South America10.1007/s10291-023-01436-2 ↗
24. Synthesis Analysis of One Severe Convection Precipitation Event in Jiangsu Using Ground-Based GPS Technology10.3390/atmos6070908 ↗
25. Construction of a meteorological application system based on BDS ground-based augmentation network and water vapor products validation10.1007/s10291-024-01612-y ↗
26. Principle and performance of BDSBAS and PPP-B2b of BDS-310.1186/s43020-022-00066-2 ↗
27. Assessment of precipitable water vapor retrieved from precise point positioning with PPP-B2b service10.1007/s12145-023-00939-3 ↗
28. Cao, Y.C., Cheng, Z.H., Liang, J.S., Zhao, P.P., Cao, Y.C., and Wang, Y.Z. (2024). Performance of Ground-Based Global Navigation Satellite System Precipitable Water Vapor Retrieval in Beijing with the BeiDou B2b Service. Remote Sens., 16.10.20944/preprints202406.1704.v1 ↗
29. Wang, X.M., Chen, Y.F., Zhang, J.L., Qiu, C., Zhou, K., Li, H.B., and Huang, Q.Y. (2024). Assessment of BDS-3 PPP-B2b Service and Its Applications for the Determination of Precipitable Water Vapour. Atmosphere, 15.10.3390/atmos15091048 ↗
30. Precipitable water vapor retrieval for rainfall forecasting using BDS-3 PPP-B2b signal in the coastal region of China10.1088/1361-6501/ad6471 ↗
31. Real-Time Precise Zenith Tropospheric Delay Estimation with BDS PPP-B2b, Galileo HAS, and QZSS MADOCA-PPP Services10.1109/TGRS.2024.3443884 ↗
32. Precise orbit determination for quad-constellation satellites at Wuhan University: Strategy, result validation, and comparison10.1007/s00190-015-0862-9 ↗
33. Lee, Z., Wang, L., Wang, N., Li, Y., Liu, A., Li, M., and Lee, Z. (2024). Performance Assessment and Integrity Support Information Estimation of CAS Real-time Orbits and Clocks Products. Geomat. Inf. Sci. Wuhan Univ., 1–19.
34. The ERA5 global reanalysis10.1002/qj.3803 ↗
35. GNSS meteorological ensemble tools (GMET): A free-access online service for GNSS meteorological applications10.1007/s10291-024-01743-2 ↗
36. A new type of troposphere zenith path delay product of the international GNSS service10.1007/s00190-008-0288-8 ↗
37. Atmospheric correction for the troposphere and stratosphere in radio ranging satellites
38. VMF3/GPT3: Refined discrete and empirical troposphere mapping functions10.1007/s00190-017-1066-2 ↗
39. Real-Time Retrieval of Precipitable Water Vapor from Galileo Observations by Using the MGEX Network10.1109/TGRS.2020.2966774 ↗
40. GSTAR: An innovative software platform for processing space geodetic data at the observation level10.1186/s43020-023-00109-2 ↗
41. Analysis of the global Tm-Ts correlation and establishment of the latitude-related linear model10.1007/s11434-014-0275-9 ↗
42. Real-time retrieval of precipitable water vapor from GPS and BeiDou observations10.1007/s00190-015-0818-0 ↗
43. Assessing the feasibility of atmospheric water vapor monitoring with standalone BDS receiver10.1007/s10661-024-13504-2 ↗
44. Orbit determination, clock estimation and performance evaluation of BDS-3 PPP-B2b service10.1007/s00190-022-01642-9 ↗
45. A near-global, 2-hourly data set of atmospheric precipitable water from ground-based GPS measurements
46. Analysis of “21·7” extreme rainstorm process in Henan Province using BeiDou/GNSS observation