Comparative study of water vapor observations between Lidar and BeiDou radiosonde in Guiyang City

doi:10.11755/j.issn.1006-7639-2026-04-0681

Abstract

Abstract:

The vertical distribution of water vapor is a key parameter for mountainous meteorological forecasting and numerical model optimization. The complex mountainous terrain of Guiyang poses significant challenges to water vapor detection, including strong spatial heterogeneity and rapid transient variability. To evaluate the consistency and differences of water vapor observations between lidar and BeiDou radiosonde under complex mountainous conditions, the paper used 80 quality-controlled water vapor profiles (38 clear, 14 cloudy, and 28 rainy) collected at the Guiyang Meteorological Station from August 2024 to January 2025, and spatiotemporal matching, correlation analysis, and error statistics to compare the water vapor mixing ratio profiles obtained by the two instruments within the 0-1 500 m above-ground-level range taking BeiDou radiosonde observations as the reference. The results show that the water vapor mixing ratios derived from lidar and BeiDou radiosonde exhibit good overall consistency. The correlation coefficient exceeds 0.90 near the surface and gradually decreases with increasing altitude, dropping to 0.58 at 1 500 m. Weather conditions significantly affect the consistency between the two datasets, with overall correlation coefficients of 0.91, 0.92, and 0.78 for clear, cloudy, and rainy days, respectively, further decreasing to 0.42 within and above the cloud layer on rainy days. The systematic bias between the two datasets exhibits distinct characteristics with respect to both altitude and weather conditions, with relatively small biases in the near-surface layer and atmospheric boundary layer, and substantially larger biases in the free atmosphere. Lidar provides the advantage of minute-scale continuous observations within the atmospheric boundary layer, whereas BeiDou radiosonde exhibits higher observational reliability in the free atmosphere. The two observing techniques are highly complementary and together provide more comprehensive observations of atmospheric water vapor over complex mountainous terrain.

Key words: Raman and Mie scattering aerosol lidar, BeiDou radiosonde data, water vapor mixing ratio, comparative analysis

摘要：

水汽垂直分布是山地气象预报和数值模式优化的重要参数，贵阳复杂山地地形使水汽探测面临空间非均匀性强、瞬态变化剧烈等挑战。为评估激光雷达与北斗探空在复杂山地环境下水汽观测的一致性及差异特征，利用贵阳市气象站2024年8月至2025年1月的80条有效水汽廓线（晴天38条、多云14条、雨天28条），以北斗探空观测资料为参照，采用时空匹配、相关分析及误差统计等方法，对距地高度0~1 500 m范围内两种方法获得的水汽混合比廓线进行对比研究。结果表明：激光雷达与北斗探空水汽混合比总体具有较好一致性，近地面层相关系数均大于0.90，并随高度升高相关系数逐渐降低，1 500 m处降至0.58；天气条件对两种观测资料的一致性影响显著，晴天、多云和雨天整体相关系数分别为0.91、0.92、0.78，雨天云层及以上区域进一步降至0.42；两种观测资料的系统性偏差具有明显的分高度层和分天气类型特征，近地面层和边界层偏差较小，自由大气层偏差显著增大；激光雷达具有边界层内分钟级连续观测优势，北斗探空在自由大气层观测稳定性更高，两种观测手段具有较好互补性。

关键词: 拉曼和米散射气溶胶激光雷达, 北斗探空资料, 水汽混合比, 对比分析

CLC Number:

P412.2

WANG Jue, XI Yue, WANG Qiang, YANG Tao. Comparative study of water vapor observations between Lidar and BeiDou radiosonde in Guiyang City[J]. Journal of Arid Meteorology, 2026, 44(4): 681-690.

王珏, 奚悦, 王强, 杨涛. 贵阳市激光雷达与北斗探空水汽观测对比研究[J]. 干旱气象, 2026, 44(4): 681-690.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig.1 Vertical profiles of correlation coefficient （a）， relative bias （b）， and RMSE （c） for water vapor mixing ratio between Raman lidar retrievals and BeiDou radiosonde observations in Guiyang from August 2024 to January 2025

Fig.2 Vertical profiles of correlation coefficient （a， d， g）， relative bias （b， e， h）， and RMSE （c， f， i） of water vapor mixing ratio between Raman lidar retrievals and BeiDou radiosonde observations in Guiyang under clear-sky （a， b， c）， cloudy （d， e， f）， and rainy （g， h， i） conditions

Fig.3 Vertical profiles of water vapor mixing ratio of BeiDou radiosonde observations and Raman lidar retrievals in Guiyang on a clear day （a， 26 October 2024）， a cloudy day （b， 5 October 2024）， and a rainy day （c， 18 October 2024）

Fig.4 Comparison of water vapor mixing ratio between BeiDou radiosonde observations and Raman lidar retrievals in Guiyang under clear， cloudy， and rainy weather conditions at 1 000 m height

Fig.5 Relationship between cloud base height and Mie-scattering extinction coefficient of lidar in Guiyang under clear， cloudy， and rainy weather conditions

Fig.6 The vertical profiles of water vapor mixing ratio observed by BeiDou radiosonde in Guiyang on a clear day （26 October 2024）， a cloudy day （5 October 2024）， and a rainy day （18 October 2024）

Tab.1 Comparison of error characteristics of water vapor mixing ratio from BeiDou radiosonde observations and Raman lidar retrievals

设备类型	系统误差	随机误差	空间代表性	优化方向
北斗探空观测	高湿滞后（0.5~1.0 g·kg^-1）	气球漂移（水平位移≤40 km）	漂移导致采样偏移	开发动态湿度校正模型
激光雷达反演	气溶胶吸湿未校正	信噪比波动	局地地形影响近地面观测	增强信号降噪算法与多源数据融合；构建多站点观测网络

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