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A Hybrid Compact Polarimetry GNSS-R Analysis of the Earth’s Cryosphere

N. Rodriguez-Alvarez,J. Muñoz-Martín,X. Bosch-Lluis,K. Oudrhiri

Published 2023 in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing

ABSTRACT

This article provides the first hybrid compact polarimetric (HCP) Global Navigation Satellite System—reflectometry (GNSS-R) analysis of the cryosphere. By reconstructing the full Stokes parameters and the child Stokes parameters from the reflectometry signals collected by the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) radar receiver, the sensitivity to the geophysical changes of the Earth’s landscapes of these opportunistic signals is analyzed. This analysis is focused over the Artic Sea ice formation zone, the northern latitudes presenting freeze and thawed transitions, and the Greenland ice sheet. We conduct a sensitivity analysis for each landscape. The signals analyzed over the Arctic Sea show correlation with sea ice concentration (SIC) of 0.77 for the second Stokes parameter <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\boldsymbol {S}_{ \boldsymbol {1}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and 0.7 for the child Stokes parameter <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\boldsymbol {\chi, }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> which describes the ellipticity of the wave. The signals analyzed over the northern latitudes present a sensitivity to the two states (frozen and thawed). The analysis over Alaskan landscape shows a total reflectivity <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\boldsymbol {\Gamma }_{ \boldsymbol {0}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> difference between freeze and thaw states of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim $ </tex-math></inline-formula>8 dB with a standard deviation of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim $ </tex-math></inline-formula>1 dB. Greenland presents a challenge since available datasets are not from the same timeframe, despite of this our initial evaluation shows that there is a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim $ </tex-math></inline-formula>0.5 correlation between ice thickness and the third Stokes parameter <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\boldsymbol {S}_{ \boldsymbol {3}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and the relative phase <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\boldsymbol {\delta }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> between the two linear electromagnetic components, h-pol and v-pol. This article provides an extensive view of the HCP GNSS-R signals over the cryosphere and finds initial sensitivities to the seasonal geophysical changes of the different areas.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2023

  • Venue

    IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing

  • Publication date

    Unknown publication date

  • Fields of study

    Physics, Computer Science, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1109/TGRS.2023.3280363
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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