The GNSS for Meteorology (G4M) Procedure and Its Application to Four Significant Weather Events

The authors conceived the GNSS for Meteorology (G4M) procedure to remote-sense the Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) content in atmosphere with the aim to detect severe meteorological phenomena. It can be applied over an orographically complex area, exploiting existing networks of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Permanent Stations (PSs) and spread meteorological sensors, not necessarily co-located. The results of a posteriori analysis of four significant meteorological events are here presented, also in comparison with rain gauge data, to show the effectiveness of the method. The potentiality of G4M to detect and locate in space and time intense rainfall events is highlighted. The upcoming application of G4M in near-real time could provide a valuable support to existing Decision Support System for meteorological alerts.