Determination of Water Level and Tides Using Interferometric Observations of GPS Signals

摘要

A nonintrusive remote sensing method to measure water level is examined. It relies on the fact that water is a good reflector of radio frequency energy, thus, on a satellite-to-ground path when the satellite is near the horizon, a readily detectable interference pattern is formed as the satellite moves through its orbit. Provided that the elevation angles from the ground-based receiver to the satellite are small enough for good reflection but not so small that atmospheric refractive effects contribute, the shape of this interference pattern is strongly related to the geometry of propagation.