GNSS-IR-Based Snow Depth Estimation: A Case Study for CRIOS Network on Svalbard
Data and Resources
Additional Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Among the different approaches to the use of surface-reflected global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs) signals in Earth sciences is GNSS interferometric reflectometry (GNSS-IR), which allows the measurement of the distance between a GNSS antenna and a reflecting surface by analyzing the time-series variations of the signal-to-noise ratio parameter. This method can be used to monitor changes in the height of the reflecting surface, including the depth of snow cover. The study presents, for the first time, the application of GNSS-IR to snow cover monitoring in the Svalbard region, based on data from three monitoring stations of the Cryosphere Integrated Observatory Network on Svalbard network. The article presents the methodology for data processing and determination of the snow depth parameter and validation of the obtained results based on in-situ measurements. In addition, the study includes a detailed analysis of the suitability of the most frequently used observation types in all four multi-GNSS constellations. For the one-year period studied (between September 2023 and August 2024), the mean error of snow depth estimation was on the order of a few centimeters, with a median of daily standard deviations in the range of 2.4–5.4 cm and correlation coefficients with manual and automatic measurements in the range of 0.83–0.93. A similar suitability for estimating the snow depth parameter was observed for all tested types of multi-GNSS observations, with a slight advantage for L5 signals. This case study enables the enhancement of polar research conducted by field scientists by offering GNSS-IR as an automated alternative to traditional manual snow depth measurements. |
| Publication date | 2025-08-27 |
| Publication type | Journal article |
| Publication authors (CENAGIS users) | |
| Other Authors |
|
| Publication language | English |
| ISBN | |
| ISSN | 2151-1535 |
| Format | |
| Dataset DOI | https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2025.3603421 |
| Related datasets |
GNSS-IR observations from the CRIOS Hornsund monitoring station
GNSS-IR observations from the CRIOS Longyearbyen monitoring station GNSS-IR observations from the CRIOS Ny-Alesund monitoring station |
| Related analyses | |
| Related environments | |
| Related software | |
| Name of metadata editor | Dominik Próchniewicz [wyszukaj w katalogu] |
| Email metadata editor | dominik.prochniewicz@pw.edu.pl |
| Date of metadata edit | 2026-03-10 |