Zenith Wet Delay (ZWD) Seasonal Correlation with Rainfall in Cikapundung River Discharge, North Bandung Region, Indonesia

Geodesy Research Group, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Institute of Technology, Bandung, Indonesia

Abstract

In a GPS survey study, the biases produced by the ionosphere and troposphere layers are known as ionospheric biases and troposphere bias. The distance deviation due to the slowing travel time of GPS signals in troposphere is commonly referred to as Zenith Tropospheric Delay (ZTD). The magnitude of this ZTD can also be used to characterize and analyze the troposphere conditions around the GPS observation area. This can be done by separating the wet delay component from ZTD, so as to obtain Zenith Wet Delay (ZWD) and dry component so as to obtain Zenith Hydrostatic Delay (ZHD). The total moisture content in the troposphere (precipitable water vapor, PWV) of an area can be estimated based on the bias characteristics of zenith wet delay (ZWD). The ZWD pattern is very important in the study of atmospheric water cycles which are associated with rainfall patterns and flood events. The methods used in the research include preliminary data processing and estimation of ZTD value using RTKLIB 2.4.2. This article analyzes the correlation between ZWD, rainfall and Cikapundung river discharge in the North Bandung Region (KBU), based on the daily average data in the 2011-2015 observation period. Based on the reconstruction of harmonic components, it was found that the seasonal pattern of river discharge is correlating with the seasonal pattern of rainfall and moisture content in the troposphere. The pattern of the three variables is strongly influenced by the Asian and Australian Monsoon exchanges phenomena. Linear correlation between ZWD and river discharge exhibits clear results, which is based on the Pearson correlation value is 88.84% with a 95% confidence level using t-student statistic. Based on cross-spectrum analysis, the three variables are dominated by the seasonal cycle of one-year monsoon (annual) and the six-month cycle phenomenon (semi-annual).