Sea Level Monitoring Using a GNSS-Based Tide Gauge
Other conference contribution, 2009

A continuous monitoring of sea level changes is important for human society since more than 50% of the world's population live within 60 km of the coast. Sea level is traditionally observed with tide gauges that give measurements relative to the Earth's crust. To improve the understanding of sea level changes it is necessary to perform measurements with respect to the Earth's center of gravity. This can be done with satellite techniques, and thus a GNSS-based tide gauge is proposed that makes use of both GNSS-signals that are directly received and that are reflected on the sea surface. A test installation at the Onsala Space Observatory shows that the reflected GNSS-signals have only about 3 dB less signal-to-noise-ratio than the directly received GNSS-signals. A comparison of relative sea level observations from the GNSS-based tide gauge to traditional tide gauges gives an RMS-agreement on the order of 4 cm.

tide gauge

sea level monitoring

GNSS

reflection signals

Author

Johan Löfgren

Chalmers, Department of Radio and Space Science, Space Geodesy and Geodynamics

Rüdiger Haas

Chalmers, Department of Radio and Space Science, Space Geodesy and Geodynamics

Jan Johansson

Chalmers, Department of Radio and Space Science, Space Geodesy and Geodynamics

2nd International Colloquium - Scientific and Fundamental Aspects of the Galileo Programme, 14 - 16 October 2009, Padua, Italy, Conference Proceedings

Subject Categories

Other Engineering and Technologies not elsewhere specified

Other Earth and Related Environmental Sciences

Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources

More information

Created

10/8/2017