Abstract
AbstractThe first digital elevation model (DEM) of the Antarctic ice sheet derived from Global Navigation Satellite Systems‐Reflectometry (GNSS‐R) data from the UK TechDemoSat‐1 satellite is presented. This is obtained using 32 months of data from the mission. This opportunistic and inexpensive method is shown to produce encouraging results from the technology demonstration platform of TechDemoSat‐1, with median bias under 18 m and root‐mean‐square difference under 91 m when compared to the CryoSat‐2 1‐km DEM v1.0. Discrepancies between the two data sets are explored along with possible causes of such differences and potential improvements to further optimize this technique for future GNSS‐R missions.
Highlights
Introduction and RationaleGlobal Navigation Satellite Systems-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) was first proposed in 1988 (Hall & Cordey, 1988) and uses reflected L-band radiation from GNSS signals such as those of Global Positioning System (GPS) to characterize the Earth’s surface
Rius et al (2017) identified factors affecting the reflected signal and this study builds on that through the application of an algorithm previously used to measure sea surface height (Clarizia et al, 2016). This algorithm is applied over the extent of the Antarctic ice sheet using all available data from the Low-Earth Orbiter TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) and compared primarily with a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 (Slater et al, 2018), as it is the most recent of the Antarctic digital elevation model (DEM) releases
This paper presents elevation estimates of the Antarctic ice sheet, the first application of GNSS-R to obtain a DEM of Antarctica, by applying Clariza et al.’s (2016) algorithm to TDS-1 data
Summary
Global Navigation Satellite Systems-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) was first proposed in 1988 (Hall & Cordey, 1988) and uses reflected L-band radiation from GNSS signals such as those of Global Positioning System (GPS) to characterize the Earth’s surface At present this is predominantly used for monitoring winds (Clarizia & Ruf, 2016; Foti et al, 2015, 2017) and sea state (Marchan-Hernandez et al, 2010). In their study, Rius et al (2017) identified factors affecting the reflected signal and this study builds on that through the application of an algorithm previously used to measure sea surface height (Clarizia et al, 2016) This algorithm is applied over the extent of the Antarctic ice sheet using all available data from the Low-Earth Orbiter TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) and compared primarily with a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 (Slater et al, 2018), as it is the most recent of the Antarctic DEM releases.
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