Further validation of an open-source low-cost GNSS-R remote sensor for coastal sea level altimetry

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuella Fagundes ◽  
Felipe Geremia-Nievinski
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Superposition Principle ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Breaking Waves ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Destructive Interference ◽  
Coastal Sea

<p>Contemporary sea level rise renders tide gauging essential in support of adaptation and mitigation strategies and to minimize its economic and societal impacts. Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) has been widely demonstrated for coastal sea level monitoring. One particular configuration of GNSS-R, called GNSS multipath reflectometry (GNSS-MR), is based on the combined tracking of direct and reflected radio waves against a single signal replica. The most common observable in GNSS-MR is the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which records the constructive/destructive interference pattern arising from the superposition of the two coherent ray paths. Recently we reported the development of a complete hardware and software system for SNR-based GNSS-R. We made it freely available as open-source based on low-cost commercial off-the-shelf components. We have deployed multiple working units of the sensor in the field, where they have operated uninterruptedly 24/7 for years, having resisted severe weather conditions. Initial validation was done by a lake (30.0277° S, 51.2287° W) for 317 days by comparison to a co-located radar-type tide gauge. Statistics confirmed that the sensor can retrieve water level with a very high correlation (0.989) and centimeter-level RMSE (2.9 cm). Here we report further coastal validation results of our GNSS-R sensor. The experiment was setup in a port (28.232019° S, 48.651064° W) with several co-located tide gauges within 100-m distance, including a radar sensor with 5-minute update interval and millimeter numerical resolution. We analyzed the time series of one week (June 19-25, 2019), and found a correlation of 0.885 and RMSE of 8.0 cm. We should emphasize this is the instantaneous sea level results and results for daily mean sea level would be improved. Although the location is sheltered from breaking waves, wind-driven waves are much greater, compared to the initial lake experiment. The increased surface roughness affects the coherence of radio wave reflections, which may eventually hamper the interferometric superposition principle, essential in GNSS-MR. This is part of ongoing validation efforts to quantity how correlation and RMSE in sea level altimetry are degraded due to the above error sources.</p>

scholarly journals An open-source low-cost sensor for SNR-based GNSS reflectometry: design and long-term validation towards sea-level altimetry

GPS Solutions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. R. Fagundes ◽  
I. Mendonça-Tinti ◽  
A. L. Iescheck ◽  
D. M. Akos ◽  
F. Geremia-Nievinski
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Coastal Sea ◽  
Commercial Off The Shelf ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

AbstractMonitoring sea level is critical due to climate change observed over the years. Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) has been widely demonstrated for coastal sea-level monitoring. The use of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) observations from ground-based stations has been especially productive for altimetry applications. SNR records an interference pattern whose oscillation frequency allows retrieving the unknown reflector height. Here we report the development and validation of a complete hardware and software system for SNR-based GNSS-R. We make it available as open source based on the Arduino platform. It costs about US$200 (including solar power supply) and requires minimal assembly of commercial off-the-shelf components. As an initial validation towards applications in coastal regions, we have evaluated the system over approximately 1 year by the Guaíba Lake in Brazil. We have compared water-level altimetry retrievals with independent measurements from a co-located radar tide gauge (within 10 m). The GNSS-R device ran practically uninterruptedly, while the reference radar gauge suffered two malfunctioning periods, resulting in gaps lasting for 44 and 38 days. The stability of GNSS-R altimetry results enabled the detection of miscalibration steps (10 cm and 15 cm) inadvertently introduced in the radar gauge after it underwent maintenance. Excluding the radar gaps and its malfunctioning periods (reducing the time series duration from 317 to 147 days), we have found a correlation of 0.989 and RMSE of 2.9 cm in daily means. To foster open science and lower the barriers for entry in SNR-based GNSS-R research and applications, we make a complete bill of materials and build tutorials freely available on the Internet so that interested researchers can  replicate the system.

scholarly journals Testing an “IoT” Tide Gauge Network for Coastal Monitoring

IoT ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-32
Author(s):  
Philip Knight ◽  
Cai Bird ◽  
Alex Sinclair ◽  
Jonathan Higham ◽  
Andy Plater
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Wave Activity ◽  
Tide Gauges ◽  
Coastal Monitoring ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Operational Constraints

A low-cost “Internet of Things” (IoT) tide gauge network was developed to provide real-time and “delayed mode” sea-level data to support monitoring of spatial and temporal coastal morphological changes. It is based on the Arduino Sigfox MKR 1200 micro-controller platform with a Measurement Specialties pressure sensor (MS5837). Experiments at two sites colocated with established tide gauges show that these inexpensive pressure sensors can make accurate sea-level measurements. While these pressure sensors are capable of ~1 cm accuracy, as with other comparable gauges, the effect of significant wave activity can distort the overall sea-level measurements. Various off-the-shelf hardware and software configurations were tested to provide complementary data as part of a localized network and to overcome operational constraints, such as lack of suitable infrastructure for mounting the tide gauges and for exposed beach locations.

Performance Assessment of GNSS-R Polarimetric Observations for Sea Level Monitoring

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Rajabi ◽  
Mstafa Hoseini ◽  
Hossein Nahavandchi ◽  
Maximilian Semmling ◽  
Markus Ramatschi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Circular Polarization ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Coastal Sea ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

<p>Determination and monitoring of the mean sea level especially in the coastal areas are essential, environmentally, and as a vertical datum. Ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) is an innovative way which is becoming a reliable alternative for coastal sea-level altimetry. Comparing to traditional tide gauges, GNSS-R can offer different parameters of sea surface, one of which is the sea level. The measurements derived from this technique can cover wider areas of the sea surface in contrast to point-wise observations of a tide gauge.  </p><p>We use long-term ground-based GNSS-R observations to estimate sea level. The dataset includes one-year data from January to December 2016. The data was collected by a coastal GNSS-R experiment at the Onsala space observatory in Sweden. The experiment utilizes three antennas with different polarization designs and orientations. The setup has one up-looking, and two sea-looking antennas at about 3 meters above the sea surface level. The up-looking antenna is Right-Handed Circular Polarization (RHCP). The sea-looking antennas with RHCP and Left-Handed Circular Polarization (LHCP) are used for capturing sea reflected Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. A dedicated reflectometry receiver (GORS type) provides In-phase and Quadrature (I/Q) correlation sums for each antenna based on the captured interferometric signal. The generated time series of I/Q samples from different satellites are analyzed using the Least Squares Harmonic Estimation (LSHE) method. This method is a multivariate analysis tool which can flexibly retrieve the frequencies of a time series regardless of possible gaps or unevenly spaced sampling. The interferometric frequency, which is related to the reflection geometry and sea level, is obtained by LSHE with a temporal resolution of 15 minutes. The sea level is calculated based on this frequency in six modes from the three antennas in GPS L1 and L2 signals.</p><p>Our investigation shows that the sea-looking antennas perform better compared to the up-looking antenna. The highest accuracy is achieved using the sea-looking LHCP antenna and GPS L1 signal. The annual Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 15-min GNSS-R water level time series compared to tide gauge observations is 3.7 (L1) and 5.2 (L2) cm for sea-looking LHCP, 5.8 (L1) and 9.1 (L2) cm for sea-looking RHCP, 6.2 (L1) and 8.5 (L2) cm for up-looking RHCP. It is worth noting that the GPS IIR block satellites show lower accuracy due to the lack of L2C code. Therefore, the L2 observations from this block are eliminated.</p>

scholarly journals Global sea level reconstruction for 1900–2015 reveals regional variability in ocean dynamics and an unprecedented long weakening in the Gulf Stream flow since the 1990s

Ocean Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 997-1016
Author(s):  
Tal Ezer ◽  
Sönke Dangendorf
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Gulf Stream ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Ocean Dynamics ◽  
South Atlantic Bight ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
Coastal Sea ◽  
Global Sea Level

Abstract. A new monthly global sea level reconstruction for 1900–2015 was analyzed and compared with various observations to examine regional variability and trends in the ocean dynamics of the western North Atlantic Ocean and the US East Coast. Proxies of the Gulf Stream (GS) strength in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (GS-MAB) and in the South Atlantic Bight (GS-SAB) were derived from sea level differences across the GS. While decadal oscillations dominate the 116-year record, the analysis showed an unprecedented long period of weakening in the GS flow since the late 1990s. The only other period of long weakening in the record was during the 1960s–1970s, and red noise experiments showed that is very unlikely that those just occurred by chance. Ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) was used to separate oscillations at different timescales, showing that the low-frequency variability of the GS is connected to the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The recent weakening of the reconstructed GS-MAB was mostly influenced by weakening of the upper mid-ocean transport component of AMOC as observed by the RAPID measurements for 2005–2015. Comparison between the reconstructed sea level near the coast and tide gauge data for 1927–2015 showed that the reconstruction underestimated observed coastal sea level variability for timescales less than ∼5 years, but lower-frequency variability of coastal sea level was captured very well in both amplitude and phase by the reconstruction. Comparison between the GS-SAB proxy and the observed Florida Current transport for 1982–2015 also showed significant correlations for oscillations with periods longer than ∼5 years. The study demonstrated that despite the coarse horizontal resolution of the global reconstruction (1∘ × 1∘), long-term variations in regional dynamics can be captured quite well, thus making the data useful for studies of long-term variability in other regions as well.

scholarly journals Atmospheric circulation changes and their impact on extreme sea levels around Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1067-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Colberg ◽  
Kathleen L. McInnes ◽  
Julian O'Grady ◽  
Ron Hoeke
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Sea Level Variability ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Extreme Sea Levels ◽  
Coastal Sea

Abstract. Projections of sea level rise (SLR) will lead to increasing coastal impacts during extreme sea level events globally; however, there is significant uncertainty around short-term coastal sea level variability and the attendant frequency and severity of extreme sea level events. In this study, we investigate drivers of coastal sea level variability (including extremes) around Australia by means of historical conditions as well as future changes under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario (RCP 8.5). To do this, a multi-decade hindcast simulation is validated against tide gauge data. The role of tide–surge interaction is assessed and found to have negligible effects on storm surge characteristic heights over most of the coastline. For future projections, 20-year-long simulations are carried out over the time periods 1981–1999 and 2081–2099 using atmospheric forcing from four CMIP5 climate models. Changes in extreme sea levels are apparent, but there are large inter-model differences. On the southern mainland coast all models simulated a southward movement of the subtropical ridge which led to a small reduction in sea level extremes in the hydrodynamic simulations. Sea level changes over the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north are largest and positive during austral summer in two out of the four models. In these models, changes to the northwest monsoon appear to be the cause of the sea level response. These simulations highlight a sensitivity of this semi-enclosed gulf to changes in large-scale dynamics in this region and indicate that further assessment of the potential changes to the northwest monsoon in a larger multi-model ensemble should be investigated, together with the northwest monsoon's effect on extreme sea levels.

scholarly journals Annual Sea Level Changes on the North American Northeast Coast: Influence of Local Winds and Barotropic Motions

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (13) ◽  
pp. 4801-4816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher G. Piecuch ◽  
Sönke Dangendorf ◽  
Rui M. Ponte ◽  
Marta Marcos
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Wind Stress ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Sea Level Changes ◽  
Tide Gauge Records ◽  
Barotropic Model ◽  
The North ◽  
Ocean Reanalyses ◽  
Coastal Sea

Abstract Understanding the relationship between coastal sea level and the variable ocean circulation is crucial for interpreting tide gauge records and projecting sea level rise. In this study, annual sea level records (adjusted for the inverted barometer effect) from tide gauges along the North American northeast coast over 1980–2010 are compared to a set of data-assimilating ocean reanalysis products as well as a global barotropic model solution forced with wind stress and barometric pressure. Correspondence between models and data depends strongly on model and location. At sites north of Cape Hatteras, the barotropic model shows as much (if not more) skill than ocean reanalyses, explaining about 50% of the variance in the adjusted annual tide gauge sea level records. Additional numerical experiments show that annual sea level changes along this coast from the barotropic model are driven by local wind stress over the continental shelf and slope. This result is interpreted in the light of a simple dynamic framework, wherein bottom friction balances surface wind stress in the alongshore direction and geostrophy holds in the across-shore direction. Results highlight the importance of barotropic dynamics on coastal sea level changes on interannual and decadal time scales; they also have implications for diagnosing the uncertainties in current ocean reanalyses, using tide gauge records to infer past changes in ocean circulation, and identifying the physical mechanisms responsible for projected future regional sea level rise.

scholarly journals Atmospheric Circulation Changes and their Impact on Extreme Sea Levels around Australia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Colberg ◽  
Kathleen L. McInnes ◽  
Julian O'Grady ◽  
Ron K. Hoeke
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Austral Summer ◽  
Sea Level Variability ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Extreme Sea Levels ◽  
Coastal Sea ◽  
Circulation Changes

Abstract. Projections of sea level rise (SLR) will lead to increasing coastal impacts during extreme sea level events globally, however, there is significant uncertainty around short-term coastal sea level variability and the attendant frequency and severity of extreme sea level events. In this study, we investigate drivers of coastal sea level variability (including extremes) around Australia by means of historical conditions as well as future changes under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario (RCP8.5). To do this, a multi-decade hindcast simulation is validated against tide gauge data. The role of tide-surge interaction is assessed and found to have negligible effects on storm surge characteristic heights over most of the coastline. For future projections, twenty-year long simulations are carried out over the time periods 1981–1999 and 2081–2099 using atmospheric forcing from four CMIP5 climate models. Results provide insights into how future atmospheric circulation changes may impact Australia's coastal zone and highlight regions of potential sensitivity to atmospheric circulation changes. Areas of note are the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north where changes to the northwest monsoon could lead to relatively large increases in extreme sea levels during Austral summer. For the southern mainland coast the simulated scenarios suggest that a southward movement of the subtropical ridge leads to a small reduction in sea level extremes.

scholarly journals Timescales of emergence of chronic flooding in the major economic center of Guadeloupe

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 703-722
Author(s):  
Gonéri Le Cozannet ◽  
Déborah Idier ◽  
Marcello de Michele ◽  
Yoann Legendre ◽  
Manuel Moisan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Ground Motions ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Tide Gauge Records ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Vertical Ground Motions ◽  
Vertical Ground ◽  
Flooding Events

Abstract. Sea-level rise due to anthropogenic climate change is projected not only to exacerbate extreme events such as cyclones and storms but also to cause more frequent chronic flooding occurring at high tides under calm weather conditions. Chronic flooding occasionally takes place today in the low-lying areas of the Petit Cul-de-sac marin (Guadeloupe, West Indies, French Antilles). This area includes critical industrial and harbor and major economic infrastructures for the islands. As sea level rises, concerns are growing regarding the possibility of repeated chronic flooding events, which would alter the operations at these critical coastal infrastructures without appropriate adaptation. Here, we use information on past and future sea levels, vertical ground motion, and tides to assess times of emergence of chronic flooding in the Petit Cul-de-sac marin. For RCP8.5 (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5; i.e., continued growth of greenhouse gas emissions), the number of flood days is projected to increase rapidly after the emergence of the process so that coastal sites will be flooded 180 d a year within 2 decades of the onset of chronic flooding. For coastal locations with the lowest altitude, we show that the reconstructed number of floods is consistent with observations known from a previous survey. Vertical ground motions are a key source of uncertainty in our projections. Yet, our satellite interferometric synthetic-aperture radar results show that the local variability in this subsidence is smaller than the uncertainties in the technique, which we estimate to be between 1 (standard deviation of measurements) and 5 mm/yr (upper theoretical bound). Despite these uncertainties, our results imply that adaptation pathways considering a rapid increase in recurrent chronic flooding are required for the critical port and industrial and commercial center of Guadeloupe. Similar processes are expected to take place in many low-elevation coastal zones worldwide, including on other tropical islands. The method used in this study can be applied to other locations, provided tide gauge records and local knowledge of vertical ground motions are available. We argue that identifying times of emergence of chronic flooding events is urgently needed in most low-lying coastal areas, because adaptation requires decades to be implemented, whereas chronic flooding hazards can worsen drastically within years of the first event being observed.

scholarly journals Relationship between the Persian Gulf Sea-Level Fluctuations and Meteorological Forcing

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 285
Author(s):  
Naghmeh Afshar-Kaveh ◽  
Mostafa Nazarali ◽  
Charitha Pattiaratchi
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Persian Gulf ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Tide Gauge ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Meteorological Forcing ◽  
Sea Level Fluctuations ◽  
Coastal Sea ◽  
The Persian Gulf

Sea-level data from six tide gauge stations along the northern coast of the Persian Gulf were analyzed both in time and frequency domain to evaluate meteorological forcing. Spectral analyses indicated that mixed, predominantly semi-diurnal tides were dominant at all stations, but low-frequency fluctuations correlated well with atmospheric pressure and wind components. Non-tidal sea-level fluctuations up to 0.75 m were observed along the northern coasts of the Gulf due to the combined action of lower atmospheric pressure and cross-shore wind. Coherency between low-frequency sea-level records and mean sea-level pressure indicated that the latter usually leads to sea-level fluctuations between 1 and 6.4 days. In contrast, the same analysis on the wind velocity and sea level revealed that the former lags between 3 and 13 days. The effect of wind stress on coastal sea-level variations was higher compared with the effect of atmospheric pressure. Concurrent analysis of low-pass-filtered sea-level records proved that the non-tidal wave moves from west to east along the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document