Table 2 Characteristics of signal propagation in the atmosphere for GNSS and SLR solutions with respect to the IERS 2010 Conventions
From: Troposphere delay modeling in SLR based on PMF, VMF3o, and meteorological data
Microwave (e.g., GNSS) | Optical (SLR) | |
|---|---|---|
Troposphere | Non-dispersive medium | Dispersive medium |
ZHD | Dominated by air pressure approximately equal to 2.3 m | Dominated by air pressure approximately equal to 2.4 m |
ZWD | Dominated by water vapor pressure and dynamically variable up to 0.4 m in the zenith direction | The sensitivity to non-hydrostatic delay up to 0.01 m in the zenith direction |
Mapping function | Based on NWM | Based on Mendes et al. (2002)—radiosonde data |
Troposphere asymmetry modeling | Estimation of horizontal gradients, possibly with a priori values derived from NWM | Not considered |
Geometry of observations | Good geometry and dense distribution of observations | A limited number of observations |
Ionosphere | Dispersive medium | No ionosphere delay |