Tropospheric Delay Raytracing Applied in VLBI Analysis

Tropospheric delay modeling error continues to be one of the largest sources of error in VLBI analysis. For standard operational solutions, we use the VMF1 elevation-dependent mapping functions derived from ECMWF data. These mapping functions assume that tropospheric delay at a site is azimuthally symmetric. As this assumption does not reflect reality, we have determined the raytrace delay along the signal path through the troposphere for each VLBI quasar observation. We determined the troposphere refractivity fields from the pressure, temperature, specific humidity and geopotential height fields of the NASA GSFC GEOS-5 numerical weather model. We discuss results from analysis of the CONT11 R&D and the weekly operational R1+R4 experiment sessions. When applied in VLBI analysis, baseline length repeatabilities were better for 66-72% of baselines with raytraced delays than with VMF1 mapping functions. Vertical repeatabilities were better for 65% of sites.