Towards Sea Ice Remote Sensing with Space Detected GPS Signals: Demonstration of Technical Feasibility and Initial Consistency Check Using Low Resolution Sea Ice Information

Abstract

This paper presents two space detected Global Positioning System (GPS) signals reflected off sea ice and compares the returned power profiles with independent estimates of ice concentration provided by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) and sea ice charts from the National Ice Center. The results of the analysis show significantly different signals received for each of the GPS reflections. For the first collection, comparisons with ice concentration estimates from AMSR-E and the National Ice Centers reveal a very strong GPS signal return off high concentration sea ice. The second GPS data collection occurs over a region of changing sea ice concentration, and the GPS signal level responds at roughly the same point that the AMSR-E data and National Ice Center charts indicate a change in ice concentration. However, the very strong signal of the first GPS collection is not consistent in magnitude with similar ice concentrations during the second GPS data collection. This demonstration shows the potential and the difficulties of this new technique as a valuable low-cost compliment to existing sea ice monitoring instruments. Additionally, a general method for calculating the location of the specular reflection point on the Earth's surface and the received Doppler frequencies and code phase delays is presented as part of an on-board open-loop signal tracking technique.

Illuminating the Capabilities of the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band

“…Given this relevance, and the generally impractical nature of in situ monitoring, considerable research in satellite-based methods for sea ice mapping has been developed (e.g., [26,27]). These efforts are led by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), which provides an array of data sets derived from passive microwave, visible and thermal infrared sensors, and field observations (http://nsidc.org/data/seaice/).…”

Simulating GNSS-R Delay-Doppler Map of Oil Slicked Sea Surfaces Under General Scenarios

“…With consideration of the non-zero grid element speed, it might be helpful to retrieve the sea surface parameters such as wind and wave information from the GNSS-R DDM. Here, the velocity of sea surface V s has been assumed as zero since the magnitude of grid element velocity is much smaller than the speed of transmitter and receiver [2,9]. The main purpose in this paper is to investigate the oil slick effect on the GNSS DDM, the influence of non-zero grid element speed is ignored for simplicity.…”

“…(2)) to update S old . The modification vector d S is the summation of two normalized vectors given by the following formula [2]:…”

“…During the past 20 years, navigation satellite system reflectometry (GNSS-R) has shown a great potential in remote sensing over ocean, land and ice [1][2][3][4][5]. Significant efforts have been put into retrieving the ocean surface parameters such as wind speed, mean sea level and significant wave height.…”

Soil Moisture & Snow Properties Determination with GNSS in Alpine Environments: Challenges, Status, and Perspectives

“…GNSS-R can be implemented on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites [93,94], on aircrafts, or at the ground level [95]. In the former case, the spatial resolution is limited (similarly as with other satellite-based sensing instruments).…”