Meteorological Sensors

It is recommended to install additional meteorological equipment at an IGS CORS. Meteorological data aids understanding the GNSS ambient environment and assists GNSS processing and the development of improved weather models.

Meteorological sensors need to be installed separately from the site's monument to minimise any increase in the multipath environment. RINEX shall be used to record and distribute meteorological data. The recommended data sampling interval shall be less than 60 minutes and it is recommended to be 5 or 10 minutes. The position of all auxiliary sensors needs to be surveyed and included in the relevant metadata.

Meteorological sensors at IGS CORS should have the following requirements:

• At a minimum, temperature and pressure should be measured,
• The pressure measurement accuracy shall be better than ± 0.5 hPa,
• The temperature measurement accuracy shall be better than ± 1° K,
• The height difference between the pressure measurement reference mark of the meteorological sensor and the antenna reference point should be determined to better than 10 cm,
• Make sure to calibrate the instruments periodically according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.