The potential of GNSS radio occultation data for the analysis of the tropical width: a comparison with reanalyses

Reiter, Annika; Danzer, Julia; Steiner, Andrea K.

doi:10.5194/wcd-6-1683-2025

Articles | Volume 6, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-1683-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

The SPARC Reanalysis Intercomparison Project (S-RIP) Phase...

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-6-1683-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 6, issue 4

Research article

|

04 Dec 2025

Research article |

| 04 Dec 2025

The potential of GNSS radio occultation data for the analysis of the tropical width: a comparison with reanalyses

Annika Reiter, Julia Danzer, and Andrea K. Steiner

Data sets

MERRA-2 instM_3d_ana_Np: 3d,Monthly mean,Instantaneous,Pressure-Level,Analysis,Analyzed Meteorological Fields V5.12.4 Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) https://doi.org/10.5067/V92O8XZ30XBI

ERA5 monthly averaged data on pressure levels from 1940 to present Hans Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.6860a573

Japanese Reanalysis for Three Quarters of a Century (JRA-3Q) Monthly Statistics Japan Meteorological Agency https://doi.org/10.5065/PH0D-MH18

Short summary

Observational Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) temperature and wind data show high potential to study the tropical width. Comparisons of RO data with state-of-the-art reanalyses demonstrate their feasibility to study the tropopause break and jet stream metrics for zonal-mean and longitudinally-resolved studies. The RO data record provides observations in regions where other methods fall short, such as over oceans and in the Southern Hemisphere.