Phase altimetry with dual polarization GNSS-R over sea ice

• Published in: IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
• Main Authors: Fabra, Fran, Cardellach, Estel, Rius, Antonio, Ribó, Serni, Oliveras, Santiago, Nogués-Correig, Oleguer, Belmonte Rivas, Maria, Semmling, Maximilian, D'Addio, Salvatore
• Other Authors: #NODATA#, Estel Cardellach
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 2012
• Subjects: Global positioning system (GPS) | polarimetry | radar altimetry | radar signal processing | sea ice; Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts; Arctic; Greenland; Climate change; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/346615; https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2011.2172797; https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84861344449

This paper evaluates the potential use of reflected signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems as a source of opportunity for the retrieval of absolute ellipsoidal heights over sea ice. Accurate estimation of the surface level would be helpful for the determination of the ice thickness, a key parameter for classification and characterization of sea ice masses. Our analysis is based on altimetric estimations from the coherent differential phase between direct and both cross- and co-polar reflected signals. For this purpose, GPS waveforms have been collected from a fixed platform in Greenland, monitoring the complete process of sea ice formation and melting during a 7-month period. The variability of coherent phase samples and polarimetric measurements are compared with in situ observations to make a realistic rough characterization of the ice cover. The retrieved sea ice surface height estimates are then evaluated against an Arctic tide model, ice surface temperature from moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer, and the laser altimetry product from ICESat. © 2011 IEEE. Peer reviewed