Improved GNSS-R bi-static altimetry and independent digital elevation models of Greenland and Antarctica from TechDemoSat-1

Cartwright, Jessica; Banks, Christopher J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4457-0876; Srokosz, Meric ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7347-7411. 2020 Improved GNSS-R bi-static altimetry and independent digital elevation models of Greenland and Antarctica from TechDemoSat-1. The Cryosphere, 14 (6). 1909-1917. 10.5194/tc-14-1909-2020

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Abstract/Summary

Improved digital elevation models (DEMs) of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets are presented, which have been derived from Global Navigation Satellite Systems-Reflectometry (GNSS-R). This builds on a previous study (Cartwright et al., 2018) using GNSS-R to derive an Antarctic DEM but uses improved processing and an additional 13 months of measurements, totalling 46 months of data from the UK TechDemoSat-1 satellite. A median bias of under 10 m and root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) of under 53 m for the Antarctic and 166 m for Greenland are obtained, as compared to existing DEMs. The results represent, compared to the earlier study, a halving of the median bias to 9 m, an improvement in coverage of 18 %, and a 4 times higher spatial resolution (now gridded at 25 km). In addition, these are the first published satellite altimetry measurements of the region surrounding the South Pole. Comparisons south of 88∘ S yield RMSEs of less than 33 m when compared to NASA's Operation IceBridge measurements. Differences between DEMs are explored, the limitations of the technique are noted, and the future potential of GNSS-R for glacial ice studies is discussed.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.5194/tc-14-1909-2020
ISSN:	1994-0424
Date made live:	05 Aug 2020 14:50 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/528299

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