Abstract
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) interferometric reflectometry, also known as the GNSS-IR, uses data from geodetic-quality GNSS antennas to extract information about the environment surrounding the antenna. Soil moisture monitoring is one of the most important applications of the GNSS-IR technique. This manuscript presents the main ideas and implementation decisions needed to write the Python code for software tools that transform RINEX format observation and navigation files into an appropriate format for GNSS-IR (which includes the SNR observations and the azimuth and elevation of the satellites) and to determine the reflection height and the adjusted phase and amplitude values of the interferometric wave for each individual satellite track. The main goal of the manuscript is to share the software with the scientific community to introduce new users to the GNSS-IR technique.
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Acknowledgements
The authors want to thank the staff of the Cajamar Center of Experiences, and especially Carlos Baixauli, for their support and collaboration in the Paiporta experiment. The authors also want to thank Alfred Leick and Steve Hilla for their valuable comments and suggestions.
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The GPS Tool Box is a column dedicated to highlighting algorithms and source code utilized by GPS engineers and scientists. If you have an interesting program or software package you would like to share with our readers, please pass it along; e-mail it to us at gpstoolbox@ngs.noaa.gov. To comment on any of the source code discussed here, or to download source code, visit our website at http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/gps-toolbox. This column is edited by Stephen Hilla, National Geodetic Survey, NOAA, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Mike Craymer, Geodetic Survey Division, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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Martín, A., Luján, R. & Anquela, A.B. Python software tools for GNSS interferometric reflectometry (GNSS-IR). GPS Solut 24, 94 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-020-01010-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-020-01010-0