Monitoring Freeze-Thaw State by Means of GNSS Reflectometry: An Analysis of TechDemoSat-1 Data

The article of the freeze/thaw dynamic of high-latitude Earth surfaces is extremely important and informative for monitoring the carbon cycle, the climate change, and the security of infrastructures. Current methodologies mainly rely on the use of active and passive microwave sensors, whi...

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Main Authors: Davide Comite, Luca Cenci, Andreas Colliander, Nazzareno Pierdicca
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2020-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9103273/
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author Davide Comite
Luca Cenci
Andreas Colliander
Nazzareno Pierdicca
author_facet Davide Comite
Luca Cenci
Andreas Colliander
Nazzareno Pierdicca
author_sort Davide Comite
collection DOAJ
description The article of the freeze&#x002F;thaw dynamic of high-latitude Earth surfaces is extremely important and informative for monitoring the carbon cycle, the climate change, and the security of infrastructures. Current methodologies mainly rely on the use of active and passive microwave sensors, while very few efforts have been devoted to the assessment of the potential of observations based on signals of opportunity. This article aims at assessing the performance of spaceborne Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) for high-spatial and high-temporal resolution monitoring of the Earth-surface freeze&#x002F;thaw state. To this aim, reflectivity values derived from the TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) data have been collected and elaborated, and thus compared against the soil moisture active passive (SMAP) freeze&#x002F;thaw information. Shallow subsurface soil temperature values recorded by a network of <italic>in situ</italic> stations have been considered as well. Even if an extensive and timeliness cross availability of both types of experimental data is limited by the spatial coverage and density of TDS-1 observations, the proposed analysis clearly indicates a significant seasonal cycle in the calibrated reflectivity. This opens new perspectives for the bistatic L-band high-resolution satellite monitoring of the freeze&#x002F;thaw state, as well as to support the development of next-generation of GNSS-R satellite missions designed to provide enhanced performance and improved temporal and spatial coverage over high latitude areas.
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spelling doaj.art-f1dbfa80c8ba4eabafa7ed5dcb1c92d12022-12-22T04:25:51ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing2151-15352020-01-01132996300510.1109/JSTARS.2020.29868599103273Monitoring Freeze-Thaw State by Means of GNSS Reflectometry: An Analysis of TechDemoSat-1 DataDavide Comite0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5080-3966Luca Cenci1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5192-1526Andreas Colliander2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4093-8119Nazzareno Pierdicca3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1232-5377Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, &#x201C;Sapienza&#x201D; University, Rome, ItalyCIMA Research Foundation, Savona, ItalyJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USADepartment of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, &#x201C;Sapienza&#x201D; University, Rome, ItalyThe article of the freeze&#x002F;thaw dynamic of high-latitude Earth surfaces is extremely important and informative for monitoring the carbon cycle, the climate change, and the security of infrastructures. Current methodologies mainly rely on the use of active and passive microwave sensors, while very few efforts have been devoted to the assessment of the potential of observations based on signals of opportunity. This article aims at assessing the performance of spaceborne Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) for high-spatial and high-temporal resolution monitoring of the Earth-surface freeze&#x002F;thaw state. To this aim, reflectivity values derived from the TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) data have been collected and elaborated, and thus compared against the soil moisture active passive (SMAP) freeze&#x002F;thaw information. Shallow subsurface soil temperature values recorded by a network of <italic>in situ</italic> stations have been considered as well. Even if an extensive and timeliness cross availability of both types of experimental data is limited by the spatial coverage and density of TDS-1 observations, the proposed analysis clearly indicates a significant seasonal cycle in the calibrated reflectivity. This opens new perspectives for the bistatic L-band high-resolution satellite monitoring of the freeze&#x002F;thaw state, as well as to support the development of next-generation of GNSS-R satellite missions designed to provide enhanced performance and improved temporal and spatial coverage over high latitude areas.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9103273/Bistatic radarsFreeze thaw (FT)global positioning system (GPS)GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R)soil moisture active passive (SMAP)TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) mission
spellingShingle Davide Comite
Luca Cenci
Andreas Colliander
Nazzareno Pierdicca
Monitoring Freeze-Thaw State by Means of GNSS Reflectometry: An Analysis of TechDemoSat-1 Data
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Bistatic radars
Freeze thaw (FT)
global positioning system (GPS)
GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R)
soil moisture active passive (SMAP)
TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) mission
title Monitoring Freeze-Thaw State by Means of GNSS Reflectometry: An Analysis of TechDemoSat-1 Data
title_full Monitoring Freeze-Thaw State by Means of GNSS Reflectometry: An Analysis of TechDemoSat-1 Data
title_fullStr Monitoring Freeze-Thaw State by Means of GNSS Reflectometry: An Analysis of TechDemoSat-1 Data
title_full_unstemmed Monitoring Freeze-Thaw State by Means of GNSS Reflectometry: An Analysis of TechDemoSat-1 Data
title_short Monitoring Freeze-Thaw State by Means of GNSS Reflectometry: An Analysis of TechDemoSat-1 Data
title_sort monitoring freeze thaw state by means of gnss reflectometry an analysis of techdemosat 1 data
topic Bistatic radars
Freeze thaw (FT)
global positioning system (GPS)
GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R)
soil moisture active passive (SMAP)
TechDemoSat-1 (TDS-1) mission
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9103273/
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