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Imprints of COVID‐19 Lockdown on GNSS Observations: An Initial Demonstration Using GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry
Author(s) -
Karegar Makan A.,
Kusche Jürgen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2020gl089647
Subject(s) - gnss applications , reflectometry , remote sensing , satellite system , reflector (photography) , interferometry , covid-19 , satellite , environmental science , global positioning system , computer science , geology , telecommunications , aerospace engineering , optics , engineering , physics , time domain , medicine , light source , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , computer vision
The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has imposed tight mobility restrictions in urban areas, causing substantial reduction in roadway traffic. Many public parking lots are nearly vacant as people across the world have gone on lockdown since mid‐March. This environmental change may have impacts on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors installed on roof of buildings. Here, we use a monitoring site in Boston to exemplify a likely sensitivity of precise GNSS sensors to their nearby dynamic environments including parked vehicles in parking lots. We show that reduced number of parked vehicles since 23 March has decreased the reflector roughness, resulting in an increase in the reflected signal power whose amplitude is quantified by GNSS interferometric reflectometry technique. The uncertainty of retrieved GNSS antenna height drops with beginning of lockdown, allowing more accurate estimate of reflector height, which could have a general implication for better understanding of the fundamental limitations of the technique.