On the trail of storms: ETH researchers want to use GPS to detect storms earlier

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Zurich researchers can detect storms earlier using GPS data. A new study by a team from ETH Zurich in the journal “Geophysical Research Letters” found that thunderstorms and heavy rains affect signal quality.

These findings could one day not only make weather forecasts more precise, but also contribute to the early detection of extreme weather events, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Zurich said on Wednesday.

“At first we couldn’t explain why.”

Researchers came across this after a severe storm in Zurich in July 2021. There was a GPS evaluation error at the measurement stations on the roof of the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry on the Hönggerberg campus.

“At first we couldn’t explain why,” said Matthias Aichinger-Rosenberger, the study’s lead author, according to the university. Analysis of data from this storm in July 2021, as well as another storm in summer 2021, showed that such storms affect the signal-to-noise ratio.

This shows how strong the signals reaching the Earth are. This rate decreased significantly as two storms ravaged the measuring station, meaning the quality of the signals deteriorated significantly. As the researchers showed in the study, the signal returned to normal once the storms were over.

A network of measuring stations is needed

This is big news, according to scientists: Until now, GPS was assumed to be a system independent of weather conditions. GPS data has now been shown to be sensitive enough to detect atmospheric disturbances.

The researchers admitted that a denser network of measurement stations is needed to create a good early detection system. This will then make it possible to determine exactly where the storm is heading and at what speed it is moving. According to the researchers, such information could be valuable for flight operations.

This is what the researchers want to do now: As ETH says, in addition to improving the method, the scientists plan to expand their research work throughout Switzerland and also at the European level and expand their networks accordingly. (SDA)

Source : Blick