Response to Variations in River Flowrate by a Spaceborne GNSS-R River Width Estimator
1
SRI International, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA
2
Climate and Space Dept, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Remote Sens. 2019, 11(20), 2450; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11202450
Received: 27 September 2019 / Revised: 16 October 2019 / Accepted: 18 October 2019 / Published: 22 October 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue GPS/GNSS for Earth Science and Applications)
In recent years, the use of Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) for remote sensing of the Earth’s surface has gained momentum as a means to exploit existing spaceborne microwave navigation systems for science-related applications. Here, we explore the potential for using measurements made by a spaceborne GNSS-R bistatic radar system (CYGNSS) during river overpasses to estimate its width, and to use that width as a proxy for river flowrate. We present a case study utilizing CYGNSS data collected in the spring of 2019 during multiple overpasses of the Pascagoula River in southern Mississippi over a range of flowrates. Our results demonstrate that a measure of river width derived from CYGNSS is highly correlated with the observed flowrates. We show that an approximately monotonic relationship exists between river flowrate and a measure of river width which we define as the associated GNSS-R width (AGW). These results suggest the potential for GNSS-R systems to be utilized as a means to estimate river flowrates and widths from space.
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Keywords:
bistatic radar; CYGNSS; river flowrate; river discharge
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MDPI and ACS Style
Warnock, A.; Ruf, C. Response to Variations in River Flowrate by a Spaceborne GNSS-R River Width Estimator. Remote Sens. 2019, 11, 2450. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11202450
AMA Style
Warnock A, Ruf C. Response to Variations in River Flowrate by a Spaceborne GNSS-R River Width Estimator. Remote Sensing. 2019; 11(20):2450. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11202450
Chicago/Turabian StyleWarnock, April; Ruf, Christopher. 2019. "Response to Variations in River Flowrate by a Spaceborne GNSS-R River Width Estimator" Remote Sens. 11, no. 20: 2450. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11202450
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