GPS being used as weather forecast tool

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MELBOURNE, June 13 (UPI) -- Australian scientists say the global positioning system can make weather forecasting more accurate by providing a new type of temperature observation.

Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and the Bureau of Meteorology said data from GPS and low-Earth orbit satellites can improve real-time weather observations and help cross-calibration of instruments.

The way the atmosphere affect GPS signals gives them information on important temperature profiles, they said.

"We are actually able to measure the amount of bending in the GPS beam as it passes through the atmosphere," RMIT Professor John Le Marshall said.

"We can then use that knowledge to more accurately measure atmospheric temperatures and use this to improve temperature fields and calibrate other satellite readings."

"This extra information, in the data-sparse Southern Hemisphere, is now making our forecasts more accurate. GPS can fill that gap. It's revolutionary technology. It's the missing link."

Using this technology, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology is delivering forecasts of the same accuracy 10 hours earlier, TG Daily reported Wednesday.