Estimation of Surface Characteristics Using GNSS LH-Reflected Signals: Land Versus Water

Estimating the characteristics of soil surface represents a significant area in applications such as hydrology, climatology, and agriculture. Signals transmitted from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) can be used for soil monitoring after reflection from the Earth's surface. In this paper, the feasibility of obtaining surface characteristics from the power ratio of left-hand (LH) reflected signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over direct right-hand (RH) is investigated. The analysis was done regardless of the surface roughness and the incoherent components of the reflected power. First, the analysis was carried out on data collected during several in situ measurements in controlled environments with known characteristics. Then, further data were collected by a GNSS receiver prototype installed on a small aircraft and analyzed. This system was calibrated on the basis of signals reflected from water. The reflectivity and the estimated permittivity showed good correlation with the types of underlying terrain.

[1]  O. Torres,et al.  Utilizing calibrated GPS reflected signals to estimate soil reflectivity and dielectric constant: Results from SMEX02 , 2006 .

[2]  Inchul Shin,et al.  A physically-based inversion algorithm for retrieving soil moisture in passive microwave remote sensing , 2011 .

[3]  Shuanggen Jin,et al.  GNSS Remote Sensing: Theory, Methods and Applications , 2013 .

[4]  Raul Onrubia Ibáñez,et al.  Retrieval of Significant Wave Height and Mean Sea Surface Level Using the GNSS-R Interference Pattern Technique: Results From a Three-Month Field Campaign , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[5]  Emanuela Falletti,et al.  N-FUELS and SOPRANO: Educational tools for simulation, analysis and processing of satellite navigation signals , 2013, 2013 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE).

[6]  Giulio Ruffini,et al.  Soil Moisture Monitorization Using GNSS Reflected Signals , 2008 .

[7]  Weimin Huang,et al.  Dual Antenna Space-Based GNSS-R Ocean Surface Mapping: Oil Slick and Tropical Cyclone Sensing , 2015, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing.

[8]  Fawwaz T. Ulaby,et al.  Bistatic specular scattering from rough dielectric surfaces , 1994 .

[9]  Valery U. Zavorotny,et al.  GPS Multipath and Its Relation to Near-Surface Soil Moisture Content , 2010, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing.

[10]  Adriano Camps,et al.  Airborne soil moisture determination using a data fusion approach at regional level , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[11]  Fabio Dovis,et al.  A fully software Global Navigation Satellite System reflectometry (GNSS-R) receiver for soil monitoring , 2014 .

[12]  Ramakrishnan Janaswamy,et al.  Radiowave Propagation and Smart Antennas for Wireless Communications , 2000 .

[13]  P. Axelrad,et al.  Initial results of land-reflected GPS bistatic radar measurements in SMEX02 , 2004 .

[14]  P. Beckmann,et al.  The scattering of electromagnetic waves from rough surfaces , 1963 .

[15]  Valery L. Mironov,et al.  The new algorithm for retrieval of soil moisture and surface roughness from GNSS reflectometry , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[16]  R. Haverkamp,et al.  Interpretation of water retention field measurements in relation to hysteresis phenomena , 2008 .

[17]  Nicole Fruehauf.  Microwave Dielectric Behaviour Of Wet Soils , 2016 .

[18]  A. P. Annan,et al.  Electromagnetic determination of soil water content: Measurements in coaxial transmission lines , 1980 .

[19]  M. Pini,et al.  A fully software GNSS-R receiver for soil dielectric constant monitoring , 2013, 2013 International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications (ICEAA).

[20]  Warren L. Stutzman,et al.  Polarization in Electromagnetic Systems , 1992 .

[21]  T. Schmugge,et al.  An Empirical Model for the Complex Dielectric Permittivity of Soils as a Function of Water Content , 1980, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[22]  Thomas J. Jackson,et al.  Soil moisture algorithm validation using data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) in Mongolia , 2004 .

[23]  F. Ulaby,et al.  Microwave Dielectric Behavior of Wet Soil-Part 1: Empirical Models and Experimental Observations , 1985, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[24]  P. Savi,et al.  The Role of Probe Attenuation in the Time-Domain Reflectometry Characterization of Dielectrics , 2010 .

[25]  Jitendra Behari,et al.  Microwave dielectric behavior of wet soils , 2005 .

[26]  Adriano Camps,et al.  Soil Moisture Retrieval Using GNSS-R Techniques: Experimental Results Over a Bare Soil Field , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[27]  Valery U. Zavorotny,et al.  A Physical Model for GPS Multipath Caused by Land Reflections: Toward Bare Soil Moisture Retrievals , 2010, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing.

[28]  Valery L. Mironov,et al.  The use of navigation satellites signals for determination the characteristics of the soil and forest canopy , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

[29]  Emanuele Santi,et al.  Global Navigation Satellite Systems Reflectometry as a Remote Sensing Tool for Agriculture , 2012, Remote. Sens..

[30]  Stefano Ferraris,et al.  Soil water dynamics at a midlatitude test site: Field measurements and box modeling approaches , 2012 .