Snow Depth Measurements by GNSS-IR at an Automatic Weather Station, NUK-K

Studies have shown that geodetic Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations can be used to measure snow depths using GNSS interferometric reflectometry (GNSS-IR). Here, we study the results from a customized GNSS setup installed in March through August 2020 at the Programme for Monitoring of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Remote Sensing
Main Authors: Trine S. Dahl-Jensen, Michele Citterio, Jakob Jakobsen, Andreas P. Ahlstrøm, Kristine M. Larson, Shfaqat A. Khan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022
Subjects:
automatic weather stations
GNSS-IR
reflectometry
snow depth
Greenland
Science
Q
Nuuk
glacier
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14112563
https://doaj.org/article/d2d6f58e6a974450a6f3d607054388d6
Description
Summary:Studies have shown that geodetic Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations can be used to measure snow depths using GNSS interferometric reflectometry (GNSS-IR). Here, we study the results from a customized GNSS setup installed in March through August 2020 at the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE) automatic weather station NUK-K located on a small glacier outside Nuuk, Greenland. The setup is not optimized for reflectometry purposes. The site is obstructed between 85 and 215 degrees, and as the power supply is limited due to the remote location, the logging time is limited to 3 h per day. We estimate reflector heights using GNSS-IR and compare the results to a sonic ranger also placed on the weather station. We find that the snow melt measured by GNSS-IR is comparable to the melt measured by the sonic ranger. We expect that a period of up to 45 cm difference between the two is likely related to the much larger footprint GNSS-IR and the topography of the area. The uncertainty on the GNSS-IR reflector heights increase from approximately 2 cm for a snow surface to approximately 5 cm for an ice surface. If reflector height during snow free periods are part of the objective of a similar setup, we suggest increasing the logging time to reduce the uncertainty on the daily estimates.

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