Regional Zenith Tropospheric Delay Modeling Based on Least Squares Support Vector Machine Using GNSS and ERA5 Data

• Main Authors: Song Li, Tianhe Xu, Nan Jiang, Honglei Yang, Shuaimin Wang, Zhen Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Remote Sensing
• Subjects: zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD); least squares support vector machine (LSSVM); European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis 5 (ERA5); Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/5/1004

The meteorological reanalysis data has been widely applied to derive zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD) with a high spatial and temporal resolution. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, machine learning also begins as a high-efficiency tool to be employed in modeling and predicting ZTD. In this paper, we develop three new regional ZTD models based on the least squares support vector machine (LSSVM), using both the International GNSS Service (IGS)-ZTD products and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis 5 (ERA5) data over Europe throughout 2018. Among them, the ERA5 data is extended to ERA5S-ZTD and ERA5P-ZTD as the background data by the model method and integral method, respectively. Depending on different background data, three schemes are designed to construct ZTD models based on the LSSVM algorithm, including the without background data, with the ERA5S-ZTD, and with the ERA5P-ZTD. To investigate the advantage and feasibility of the proposed ZTD models, we evaluate the accuracy of two background data and three schemes by segmental comparison with the IGS-ZTD of 85 IGS stations in Europe. The results show that the overall average Root Mean Square Errors (RMSE) value of all sites is 30.1 mm for the ERA5S-ZTD, and 10.7 mm for the ERA5P-ZTD. The overall average RMSE is 25.8 mm, 22.9 mm, and 9 mm for the three schemes, respectively. Moreover, the overall improvement rate is 19.1% and 1.6% for the ZTD model with ERA5S-ZTD and ERA5P-ZTD, respectively. In order to explore the reason of the lower improvement for the ZTD model with ERA5P-ZTD, the loop verification is performed by estimating the ZTD values of each available IGS station. In actuality, the monthly improvement rate of estimated ZTD is positive for most stations, and the biggest improvement rate can even reach about 40%. The negative rate mainly comes from specific stations, these stations are located on the edge of the region, near the coast, as well as the lower similarity between the individual verified station and training stations.