Title | Application of GNSS interferometric reflectometry for the estimation of lake ice thickness |
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Author | Ghiasi, Y; Duguay, C R; Murfitt, J; van der Sanden, J J ; Thompson, A; Drouin, H ; Prévos, C |
Source | Remote Sensing vol. 12, issue 17, 1662, 2020 p. 1-9, https://doi.org/10.3390/RS12172721 Open Access |
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Year | 2020 |
Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20200442 |
Publisher | MDPI AG |
Document | serial |
Lang. | English |
Media | paper; on-line; digital |
File format | pdf; html |
Subjects | Science and Technology; ice thicknesses; global navigation satellite systems (GNSS); Global positioning systems |
Illustrations | diagrams; graphs |
Released | 2020 08 23 |
Abstract | Lake ice thickness is a sensitive indicator of climate change largely through its dependency on near-surface air temperature and on-ice snow mass (depth and density). Monitoring of the seasonal
variations and trends in ice thickness is also important for the operation of winter ice roads that northern communities rely on for the movement of goods as well as for cultural and leisure activities (e.g., snowmobiling). Therefore, consistent
measurements of ice thickness over lakes is important; however, field measurements tend to be sparse in both space and time in many northern countries. Here, we present an application of L-band frequency Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
Interferometric Reflectometry (GNSS-IR) for the estimation of lake ice thickness. The proof of concept is demonstrated through the analysis of Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) time series extracted from Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation L1
band raw data acquired between 8 and 22 March (2017 and 2019) at 14 lake ice sites located in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Dominant frequencies are extracted using Least Squares Harmonic Estimation (LS-HE) for the retrieval of ice thickness.
Estimates compare favorably with in-situ measurements (mean absolute error = 0.05 m, mean bias error = -0.01 m, and root mean square error = 0.07 m). These results point to the potential of GPS/GNSS-IR as a complementary tool to traditional field
measurements for obtaining consistent ice thickness estimates at many lake locations, given the relatively low cost of GNSS antennas/receivers. |
GEOSCAN ID | 327259 |
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