Determining the Tropospheric Delay of a Radio Signal by the Radiometric Method

Abstract

We present a method and algorithm for real-time determination of the tropospheric delay of a radio signal and the radiometric complex developed on their basis. The method is based on the measurement of the atmospheric thermal microwave radiation intensity at the frequencies ν₁ = 20.7 GHz, ν₂ = 32 GHz, and ν₃ = 56.7 GHz and solution of the corresponding inverse problem with respect to the atmospheric parameters (temperature, pressure, humidity, and water content) which completely determine the tropospheric delay of a radio signal. The method was experimentally tested by comparing the radio-signal delay series obtained by the radiometric method and the GLONASS/GPS data. The error of determining the wet component of the radio-signal delay was about 3 mm.