Technical Note on POlarimetric Phase Interferometry (POPI)

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel polarimetric interferometric technique using GPS signals reflected off the sea surface to extract geophysical information related to the dielectric properties of the ocean surface.

Contribution

It presents the conceptual background and preliminary results of a new method leveraging GPS signals with circular polarization for ocean remote sensing.

Findings

Preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of the technique.

Phase information correlates with sea surface dielectric properties.

Potential for improved ocean surface characterization.

Abstract

The Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as the American Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian GLONASS or the imminent European Galileo, can be used as sources of opportunity for remote sensing of the Oceans. In this document, we present the approach, conceptual background and preliminary results of a novel polarimetric interferometric technique based on GPS signals rebounded off of the sea surface and collected at both Right Hand (RH) and Left Hand (LH) Circular Polarizations. We seek to obtain geophysical information out of the phase information, which could be in principle relate to the dielectric properties of the sea surface.