Planetary Boundary Layer Height Detection Using Mountaintop-Based GNSS Radio Occultation Signal Amplitude

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation (RO) is an atmospheric remote sensing technique that improves global weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and ionospheric studies. Planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) is a crucial parameter in modeling the troposphere. Space-based GNSS RO has been used in detecting the PBLH with receivers onboard low earth orbit satellites. This paper presents a method of PBLH detection using GNSS signal amplitude measured by a mountaintop-based RO (MRO) system on the summit of Haleakala, Hawaii. The estimated PBLHs are comparable with those derived from space-based RO measurements, space-borne lidar, and local radiosonde profiles. With advantages such as having dense temporal and spatial coverage, low-cost, and an easy-to-implement algorithm, the MRO-based signal amplitude method can be a useful addition to existing methods and could contribute to regional weather study.