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Retracking considerations in spaceborne GNSS-R altimetry

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Abstract

The European Space Agency Passive Reflectometry and Interferometry System In-orbit Demonstrator (IoD) aims to perform mesoscale altimetric observations by measuring the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) opportunity signals reflected over the sea surface. Altimetry based on GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R) is significantly affected by satellite motion, since it requires relatively long integration times to reduce noise. We present the impact of the satellite motion on the GNSS-R observables and the need to retrack the waveforms. By using a detailed GNSS-R space mission simulator, the change of delay difference between the direct and the reflected signals during the incoherent averaging of the waveform has been investigated. Their effects on the waveform shape and the altimetric performance are presented comparing the aligned and non-aligned waveforms. Results show that the performance of spaceborne GNSS-R altimeter is seriously degraded without a proper alignment of the waveform samples.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by Spanish grant “GNSSR4SMOSops” from the MICCIN ref. AYA2008-05906-C02-01/ESP and by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government [NRF-2011-357-D00273].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Remote Sensing Laboratory, Department of Signal Theory and Communication, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), and IEEC CRAE/UPC, Barcelona, Spain

    Hyuk Park, Adriano Camps, Enric Valencia, Nereida Rodriguez-Alvarez, Isaac Ramos-Perez & Hugo Carreno-Luengo

  2. Microwave Systems Laboratory—ECE, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Xavier Bosch-Lluis

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  1. Hyuk Park
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  2. Adriano Camps
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  3. Enric Valencia
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  4. Nereida Rodriguez-Alvarez
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  5. Xavier Bosch-Lluis
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  6. Isaac Ramos-Perez
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  7. Hugo Carreno-Luengo
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Correspondence to Hyuk Park.

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Park, H., Camps, A., Valencia, E. et al. Retracking considerations in spaceborne GNSS-R altimetry. GPS Solut 16, 507–518 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-011-0251-7

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