Evaluation of Tropopause Height from Sentinel-6 GNSS Radio Occultation Using Different Methods

The tropopause is described as the distinction between the troposphere and the stratosphere, and the tropopause height (TPH) is an indicator of climate change. GNSS Radio Occultation (RO) can monitor the atmosphere globally under all weather conditions with a high vertical resolution. In this study, four different techniques for identifying the TPH were investigated. The lapse rate tropopause (LRT) and cold point tropopause (CPT) methods are the traditional methods for determining the TPH based on temperature profiles according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) definition. Two advanced methods based on the covariance transform (CT) method are used to estimate the TPH from the refractivity (TPHN) and the TPH from the bending angle (TPH alpha). Data from the Sentinel-6 satellite were used to evaluate the different algorithms for the identification of the TPH. The analysis shows that the CPT height is greater than the LRT height and that the CPT is only valid in tropical regions. The CPT height, TPHN, and TPH alpha were compared with the LRT height. In general, the TPH alpha had the largest value, followed by the TPHN, and the LRT had the lowest value of TPH at and near the equator. In the equatorial region, the maximum TPH results from the TPH alpha (approximately 17.5 km), and at the poles, the minimum TPH results from the LRT (approximately 9 km). The results were also compared with the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), and there was a strong correlation of 0.999 between the different approaches for identifying the TPH from RO and the ECMWF model. The identification of the TPH is critical for the transfer of mass, water, and trace gases between the troposphere and stratosphere.

Automated summary

This study investigates four different techniques for identifying the tropopause and evaluates their effectiveness using GNSS Radio Occultation (RO) data. The results show that the cold point tropopause (CPT) height is valid in tropical regions, and the tropopause height based on bending angle (TPH alpha) has the largest value. The identification of the tropopause is crucial for the transfer of mass and energy in the atmosphere.