Satellite Geodesy for Climatological Studies in Malawi

Improvements in geodetic receiver architecture have revolutionized the retrieval of water vapour from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations. Modern geodetic receivers can track multiple satellites from different GNSS for improved satellite-based estimation and reliability. Until now, GNSS geodetic receivers are not common equipment for climatological studies in Malawi. This paper demonstrates how precipitable water vapour (PWV), atmospheric humidity, and temperature can be derived from GNSS observations recorded with geodetic receivers located in unique geographic locations in Malawi. To achieve this, GNSS observations logged in the PREParedness for East African Countries through Seismic Resilience Engineering (PREPARE) and the Malawi Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) networks are utilized. The observation availability from both the former and latter networks is scrutinized to determine the anticipated measurement precision from the different receivers. The results illustrate a redundant number of satellites from different geodetic receivers necessary for the estimation of meteorological parameters. Thus, the approach presented in this paper could provide quality assurance for identifying suitable geodetic receivers for climatological studies in Malawi.