GNSS transpolar earth reflectometry exploriNg system (G-TERN): mission concept

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Transpolar Earth Reflectometry exploriNg system (G-TERN) was proposed in response to ESA's Earth Explorer 9 revised call by a team of 33 multi-disciplinary scientists. The primary objective of the mission is to quantify at high spatio-temporal resolution crucial characteristics, processes and interactions between sea ice, and other Earth system components in order to advance the understanding and prediction of climate change and its impacts on the environment and society. The objective is articulated through three key questions. 1) In a rapidly changing Arctic regime and under the resilient Antarctic sea ice trend, how will highly dynamic forcings and couplings between the various components of the ocean, atmosphere, and cryosphere modify or influence the processes governing the characteristics of the sea ice cover (ice production, growth, deformation, and melt)? 2) What are the impacts of extreme events and feedback mechanisms on sea ice evolution? 3) What are the effects of the cryosphere behaviors, either rapidly changing or resiliently stable, on the global oceanic and atmospheric circulation and mid-latitude extreme events? To contribute answering these questions, G-TERN will measure key parameters of the sea ice, the oceans, and the atmosphere with frequent and dense coverage over polar areas, becoming a “dynamic mapper”of the ice conditions, the ice production, and the loss in multiple time and space scales, and surrounding environment. Over polar areas, the G-TERN will measure sea ice surface elevation (<;10 cm precision), roughness, and polarimetry aspects at 30-km resolution and 3-days full coverage. G-TERN will implement the interferometric GNSS reflectometry concept, from a single satellite in near-polar orbit with capability for 12 simultaneous observations. Unlike currently orbiting GNSS reflectometry missions, the G-TERN uses the full GNSS available bandwidth to improve its ranging measurements. The lifetime would be 2025-2030 or optimally 2025-2035, covering key stages of the transition toward a nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer. This paper describes the mission objectives, it reviews its measurement techniques, summarizes the suggested implementation, and finally, it estimates the expected performance.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

GNSS transpolar earth reflectometry exploriNg system (G-TERN): Mission concept

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Transpolar Earth Reflectometry exploriNg system (G-TERN) was proposed in response to ESA's Earth Explorer 9 revised call by a team of 33 multi-disciplinary scientists. The primary objective of the mission is to quantify at high spatio-temporal resolution crucial characteristics, processes and interactions between sea ice, and other Earth system components in order to advance the understanding and prediction of climate change and its impacts on the environment and society. The objective is articulated through three key questions. 1) In a rapidly changing Arctic regime and under the resilient Antarctic sea ice trend, how will highly dynamic forcings and couplings between the various components of the ocean, atmosphere, and cryosphere modify or influence the processes governing the characteristics of the sea ice cover (ice production, growth, deformation, and melt)? 2) What are the impacts of extreme events and feedback mechanisms on sea ice evolution? 3) What are the effects of the cryosphere behaviors, either rapidly changing or resiliently stable, on the global oceanic and atmospheric circulation and mid-latitude extreme events? To contribute answering these questions, G-TERN will measure key parameters of the sea ice, the oceans, and the atmosphere with frequent and dense coverage over polar areas, becoming a "dynamic mapper" of the ice conditions, the ice production, and the loss in multiple time and space scales, and surrounding environment. Over polar areas, the G-TERN will measure sea ice surface elevation (&lt;10 cm precision), roughness, and polarimetry aspects at 30-km resolution and 3-days full coverage. G-TERN will implement the interferometric GNSS reflectometry concept, from a single satellite in near-polar orbit with capability for 12 simultaneous observations. Unlike currently orbiting GNSS reflectometry missions, the G-TERN uses the full GNSS available bandwidth to improve its ranging measurements. The lifetime would be 2025-2030 or optimally 2025-2035, covering key stages of the transition toward a nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer. This paper describes the mission objectives, it reviews its measurement techniques, summarizes the suggested implementation, and finally, it estimates the expected performance

Kinematic GNSS tropospheric estimation and mitigation over a range of altitudes

PhD ThesisThis thesis investigates the potential for estimating tropospheric delay from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) stations on moving platforms experiencing a change in altitude. The ability to accurately estimate tropospheric delay in kinematic GNSS positioning has implications for improved height accuracy due to the mitigation of a major GNSS error source, and for the collection of atmospheric water vapour data for meteorology and climate studies. The potential for extending current kinematic GNSS positioning estimates of tropospheric delay from sea level based studies to airborne experiments, and the achievable height accuracy from a range of tropospheric mitigation strategies used in airborne GNSS positioning, are explored. An experiment was established at the Snowdon Mountain Railway (SMR), utilising the railway to collect a repeatable kinematic dataset, profiling 950 m of the lower atmosphere over a 50 day period. GNSS stations on stable platforms and meteorological sensors were installed at the extremities of the trajectory, allowing reference tropospheric delays and coordinates to be established. The retrieval of zenith wet delay (ZWD) from kinematic GNSS solutions using tropospheric estimation strategies is validated against an interpolated reference ZWD between GNSS stations on stable platforms, together with profiles from 100 m resolution runs of the UK Met Office Unified Model. Agreement between reference ZWD values and a combined GPS+GLONASS precise point positioning (PPP) solution is demonstrated with an accuracy of 11.6 mm (RMS), similar to a relative positioning solution and previous shipborne studies. The impact on the height accuracy from estimating tropospheric delay in kinematic GNSS positioning is examined by comparing absolute and relative GNSS positioning solutions to a reference trajectory generated from a relative GNSS positioning solution ii processed with reference to the GNSS stations on stable platforms situated at the extremities of the SMR. A height accuracy with a standard deviation of 72 mm was demonstrated for the GPS+GLONASS PPP solution, similar to a GPS-only relative solution, and providing an improvement over the GPS-only PPP solution.UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) studentship, and part of the work was funded by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Education Trust

Hourly Variation of Gaseous Attenuation in Tropical Station

Attenuation by water vapor and oxygen is one of the major reasons electromagnetic waves in some frequency bands get degraded. It is of key importance to study, understand and mitigate these effects as much as possible. In this work, hourly attenuation due to water vapor also known as wet attenuation as well as attenuation due to oxygen, known as dry attenuation in decibel per kilometer was calculated for the Ka, Ku and V frequency bands. The International Telecommunications Union‐676 model was used to calculate these values using 60 seconds integration time measured values of Pressure, Temperature and Relative humidity. These parameters were obtained from the Covenant University Davis‐Pro Automatic weather station installed in Ota, Nigeria. The computed results between April and December 2012 are hereby presented

Fachzeitschrift für Hydrographie und Geoinformation

Second International Issu

Beyond 100: The Next Century in Geodesy

This open access book contains 30 peer-reviewed papers based on presentations at the 27th General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). The meeting was held from July 8 to 18, 2019 in Montreal, Canada, with the theme being the celebration of the centennial of the establishment of the IUGG. The centennial was also a good opportunity to look forward to the next century, as reflected in the title of this volume. The papers in this volume represent a cross-section of present activity in geodesy, and highlight the future directions in the field as we begin the second century of the IUGG. During the meeting, the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) organized one Union Symposium, 6 IAG Symposia, 7 Joint Symposia with other associations, and 20 business meetings. In addition, IAG co-sponsored 8 Union Symposia and 15 Joint Symposia. In total, 3952 participants registered, 437 of them with IAG priority. In total, there were 234 symposia and 18 Workshops with 4580 presentations, of which 469 were in IAG-associated symposia. ; This volume will publish papers based on International Association of Geodesy (IAG) -related presentations made at the International Association of Geodesy at the 27th IUGG General Assembly, Montreal, July 2019. It will include papers associated with all of the IAG and joint symposia from the meeting, which span all aspects of modern geodesy, and linkages to earth and environmental sciences. It continues the long-running IAG Symposia Series

Aerosol – remote sensing, characterization and aerosol-radiation interaction

Die Wechselwirkung von Aerosol und Strahlung in der Atmosphäre beeinflusst stark die Energiebilanz der Erde. Durch die großräumige Erfassung der horizontalen und vertikalen Verteilung von Aerosoleigenschaften in der Atmosphäre liefern Fernerkundungstechniken einen wichtigen Beitrag zu unserem Verständnis des Klimasystems. Genaue Beobachtungen durch langfristige operationelle Satellitenmissionen und zuverlässige Referenzmessungen vom Boden aus sind auch für die Ableitung und Verbesserung satelliten- und modellgestützter Aerosoldatensätze unerlässlich. Dies gilt insbesondere über dem Ozean. Mittels Fernerkundungsmethoden werden in dieser Dissertation bestimmte optische Eigenschaften von Aerosol und dessen Strahlungseffekt untersucht. Ein Teil der Datengrundlage hierfür wurde auf fünf Fahrten mit dem Forschungsschiff Polarstern mittels eines multispektralen Schattenbandradiometers erhoben. Anhand dieser Daten werden die aus theoretischen Betrachtungen abgeleitete Unsicherheit der Irradianzmessung von etwa 2 % anhand eines Vergleichs mit Sonnenphotometerbeobachtungen an Land und auf dem Schiff bestätigt. Unter Verwendung Schiffs-gestützter Referenzdaten werden im Rahmen dieser Dissertation mehrere weitere Aerosoldatensätze evaluiert. Für zwei satellitengestützte Datensätze können die erwarteten Fehlergrenzen bestätigt und die vom Aerosoltyp abhängigen Einschränkungen aufgrund von Modellannahmen diskutiert werden. Darüber hinaus werden die optischen Eigenschaften von Aerosol in der CAMS-Reanalyse betrachtet. Dabei findet sich die größte Diskrepanz in der Aerosolabsorption, die von der CAMS-Reanalyse um etwa 30 % überschätzt wird. Schließlich wird der Strahlungseffekt von Aerosol für die Region Deutschland und das Jahr 2015 unter unbewölkten Bedingungen mit zwei komplementären Ansätzen untersucht. Hierbei werden Messungen der solaren Einstrahlung an 25 Stationen des Beobachtungsnetzes des Deutschen Wetterdienstes als Datengrundlage verwendet. Einerseits wird ein Ensemble von empirischen Modellen verwendet, um die direkte Strahlungswirkung von Aerosol am Boden mithilfe einer Fehlerminimierung zu bestimmen. Die zugrundeliegenden Annahmen über Aerosol- und atmosphärische Eigenschaften in diesen Modellen werden kritisch analysiert und diskutiert. Im zweiten Ansatz werden explizite Strahlungstransfersimulationen des Strahlungseffekts unter Verwendung der CAMS-Reanalyse genutzt. Weiterhin wird die Sensitivität der Simulationen auf Unsicherheiten in den Eingangsgrößen untersucht, und damit die resultierende Unsicherheit im Strahlungseffekt abgeschätzt. Nach Korrektur von systematischen Abweichungen in der CAMS-Reanalyse hat Aerosol im Jahre 2015 einen mittleren abkühlenden Strahlungseffekt von -10.6 Wm-2 am Boden in Deutschland.The interaction of aerosol and radiation in the atmosphere exerts a strong influence on the Earth's energy balance. Remote sensing techniques provide an important contribution to our understanding of the climate system, by observing the horizontal and vertical distribution of aerosol properties in the atmosphere on a large scale. Accurate observations from long-term operational satellite missions and reliable ground-based reference measurements are essential for deriving and improving satellite- and model-based aerosol data sets. This is especially true over the ocean. In this dissertation, certain optical properties of aerosol particles and their radiation effect are investigated using remote sensing methods. Parts of the considered data basis were collected on five cruises with the research vessel Polarstern using a multispectral shadow-band radiometer. This unique data set contributes to the global available reference observations over the ocean by partially filling known gaps. On this database, an algorithm to evaluate shadow-band radiometer observations for the determination of spectral irradiance and optical properties of aerosol has been advanced. The basis algorithm was developed by the author as part of his master's thesis. The uncertainty of the irradiance measurement of about 2 % derived from theoretical considerations is validated by comparison with sun photometer observations on land and on ship. Using ship-borne reference data, several aerosol products are evaluated as part of this dissertation. For two satellite-based datasets, the expected error bounds has been confirmed and the aerosol-type dependent limitations due to model assumptions in the satellite retrievals are discussed. Furthermore, the optical properties of aerosol considered in the CAMS reanalysis are evaluated. The largest discrepancy is found in the aerosol absorption, which is overestimated by the CAMS reanalysis by about 30 %. Finally, the radiative effect of aerosol is investigated for the region of Germany and the year 2015 under cloud-free conditions using two complementary approaches. Here, measurements of solar irradiance at 25 stations of the observation network of the German Weather Service are used as a data basis. In the first approach, an ensemble of empirical models is used to determine the direct radiative effect of aerosols on the ground using error minimization. The underlying assumptions about aerosol and atmospheric properties in these models are critically analysed and discussed. The second approach quantifies the radiative effect by applying explicit radiative transfer simulations using CAMS reanalysis. The uncertainty in the radiative effect is estimated by studying the sensitivity of the simulations to uncertainties in the input variables. After correcting for systematic deviations in the CAMS reanalysis, aerosol has a cooling radiative effect of -10.6 Wm-2 on the ground in Germany in the annual mean of 2015

Remote Sensing of Environmental Changes in Cold Regions

This Special Issue gathers papers reporting recent advances in the remote sensing of cold regions. It includes contributions presenting improvements in modeling microwave emissions from snow, assessment of satellite-based sea ice concentration products, satellite monitoring of ice jam and glacier lake outburst floods, satellite mapping of snow depth and soil freeze/thaw states, near-nadir interferometric imaging of surface water bodies, and remote sensing-based assessment of high arctic lake environment and vegetation recovery from wildfire disturbances in Alaska. A comprehensive review is presented to summarize the achievements, challenges, and opportunities of cold land remote sensing

Beyond 100: The Next Century in Geodesy

This open access book contains 30 peer-reviewed papers based on presentations at the 27th General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). The meeting was held from July 8 to 18, 2019 in Montreal, Canada, with the theme being the celebration of the centennial of the establishment of the IUGG. The centennial was also a good opportunity to look forward to the next century, as reflected in the title of this volume. The papers in this volume represent a cross-section of present activity in geodesy, and highlight the future directions in the field as we begin the second century of the IUGG. During the meeting, the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) organized one Union Symposium, 6 IAG Symposia, 7 Joint Symposia with other associations, and 20 business meetings. In addition, IAG co-sponsored 8 Union Symposia and 15 Joint Symposia. In total, 3952 participants registered, 437 of them with IAG priority. In total, there were 234 symposia and 18 Workshops with 4580 presentations, of which 469 were in IAG-associated symposia. ; This volume will publish papers based on International Association of Geodesy (IAG) -related presentations made at the International Association of Geodesy at the 27th IUGG General Assembly, Montreal, July 2019. It will include papers associated with all of the IAG and joint symposia from the meeting, which span all aspects of modern geodesy, and linkages to earth and environmental sciences. It continues the long-running IAG Symposia Series