Applications of Spaceborne GNSS-R over Inland Waters and Wetlands

Abstract

This work aims to demonstrate the applications of spaceborne Global Navigation Satellite System reflectometry (GNSS-R) over inland waters and wetlands. Raw samples of the GNSS signals reflected from lakes, rivers and wetlands have been recorded occasionally by the TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) and Cyclone GNSS (CYGNSS) missions. Strong coherent reflections have been found in the GNSS-R signals from open inland water bodies (lakes and rivers), which would make possible to perform precise surface altimetry measurements using both group delay and carrier phase from reflected signals. In addition, it is also found that GNSS signals reflected off densely vegetated wetlands also present some coherent features from the evolution of their carrier phase, showing the potential of the GNSS-R technique to monitor extremely dense wetlands from spaceborne platforms.