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Theses and Dissertations

Global Positioning System

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Full-Text Articles in Meteorology

Gps-Derived Precipitable Water Compared With The Air Force Weather Agency's Mm5 Model Output, Patricia A. Vollmer Mar 2002

Gps-Derived Precipitable Water Compared With The Air Force Weather Agency's Mm5 Model Output, Patricia A. Vollmer

Theses and Dissertations

Lightning poses a threat to aircraft in flight. To mitigate this threat, the U.S. Air Force requested a study of lightning distances. Three-Dimensional lightning data were examined for this study, spanning 1 March 1997 to 31 May 2001 and obtained from the Lightning Detection and Ranging System (LDAR) at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. The LDAR data points were first grouped into lightning flashes and branches using spatial and temporal criteria. Rawinsonde data were vertically interpolated to determine the temperature at the flash source point and each branch end point. The horizontal distance from flash sources to branch end was …


Estimation Of Atmospheric Precipitable Water Using The Global Positioning System, David A. Garay Mar 2002

Estimation Of Atmospheric Precipitable Water Using The Global Positioning System, David A. Garay

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on using the Global Positioning System (GPS) for atmospheric precipitable water (PW) estimation. Water vapor, measured in terms of PW, plays a crucial role in atmospheric processes and short-term weather forecasting. Traditional methodologies for measuring atmospheric water vapor distributions have known inadequacies, resulting in the motivation to gain good water vapor characterization via GPS. The ability to accurately forecast cloud formation and other weather phenomenon is critical, especially in the case of military operations. Using a network of GPS receivers, it is possible to estimate precipitable water throughout the network region with better accuracy than traditional methods …