An Effective Model to Retrieve Soil Moisture from L- and C-Band SAR Data

This study investigated an appropriate method for soil moisture retrieval from radar images and coincident ground measurements acquired over bare soil and sparsely vegetated regions. The adopted approach based on a single scattering integral equation method (IEM) was developed to establish the relationship between backscatter coefficient and surface soil parameters including volumetric soil moisture content and surface roughness. The performance of IEM in 0–7.6 cm is better than that in 0–20 cm. Moreover, IEM can simulate correctly the backscatter coefficients only for the root mean square (RMS) height s < 1.5 cm at C-band and s < 2.5 cm at L-band by using an exponential correlation function and for s > 1.5 cm at C-band and s > 2.5 cm at L-band by using Gaussian function. However, due to the difficulties involved in the parameterization of soil surface roughness, the estimated accuracy is not satisfactory for the inversion of IEM. This paper used a combined roughness parameter and Fresnel reflection coefficient to develop an empirical model. Simulations were performed to support experimental results and to highlight soil moisture content and surface roughness effects in different polarizations. Results showed that a good agreement was found between the IEM simulations and the SAR measurements over a wide range of soil moisture and surface roughness characteristics. The model had a significant operational advantage in soil moisture retrieval. The correlation coefficients were 77.03 % at L-band and 81.45 % at C-band with the RMSEs of 0.515 and 0.4996 dB, respectively. Additionally, this work offered insight into the required application accuracy of soil moisture retrieval at a large area of arid regions.     

Return pulse waveform simulation for LLRI instrument onboard Chandrayan-I

ISRO is launching a LiDAR instrument (LLRI) onboard Chandrayan-I. The LLRI will collect topographic data of lunar surface. Flying at an altitude of 100km the LLRI will have a footprint of 100m on the moon surface. Time of travel measurement, which is fundamental for topographic coordinate computation, depends upon the shape of the return pulse. This shape in turn is a function of the characteristics of footprint, i. e. its geometry, reflectance and roughness. This paper uses a mathematical model to simulate the return waveform at the receiver for different conditions of said characteristics within the footprint. Mathematical equations are employed to generate footprints that vary in their characteristics in terms of reflectance, geometry and roughness. A footprint is divided into small bins so that each bin has uniform property. Energy distribution in transmitted pulse is considered Gaussian. Energy irradiated over footprint is approximated using the assumed distribution. For each bin the energy incident is computed and accordingly the quantum and distribution of reflected energy is determined. The final waveform is generated by integrating the energy returned from all the bins according to their time of arrival and spread. Some results are presented to show the performance of the developed system.     

Coherent GPS reflections from the sea surface

In this letter, we explore a method to obtain accurate ocean heights using measurements of the global positioning system (GPS) carrier phase after reflection on the sea surface. A carrier tracking algorithm is employed in measuring travel path differences between GPS direct and reflected signals collected from antennas suspended over a marine estuary, when roughness guarantees partially coherent reflections at the GPS L1 frequency. This technique proves to be sensitive to surface roughness and able to follow tide variations with a precision better than 5 cm (1-sigma) for sea states with significant wave heights below 10 cm. It is expected that this technique could be further extended to rougher sea states using GPS frequency combinations with longer synthetic wavelengths.     

全波形LiDAR数据分解的可变分量高斯混合模型及RJMCMC算法

传统激光雷达(light detection and ranging,LiDAR)数据处理均采用固定数的波形分解方法,容易遗漏部分重叠的返回波,降低波形拟合精度。为了实现可变数波形分解,本文提出了一种自动确定波形分解数的方法。假定波形数据服从混合高斯分布,并以此建立理想的波形模型;定义用于控制理想模型与实际波形拟合程度的能量函数,用吉布斯分布构建或然率;根据贝叶斯定理构建刻画波形分解的后验概率模型;设计可逆跳转马尔科夫链蒙特卡洛(reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo,RJMCMC)算法模拟该后验概率模型,以确定波形分解数并同时完成波形分解。为了验证提出算法的正确性,分别对不同区域的ICESat-GLAS波形数据进行了波形分解试验,定性和定量分析结果验证了本文方法的有效性、可靠性和准确性。     

GPS/Pseudolite/INS integration: concept and first tests

This paper discusses the introduction of pseudolites (ground-based GPS-like signal transmitters) into existing integrated GPS/INS systems in order to provide higher availability, integrity, and accuracy in a local area. Even though integrated GPS/INS systems can overcome inherent drawbacks of each component system (line-of-sight requirement for GPS, and INS errors that grow with time), performance is nevertheless degraded under adverse operational circumstances. Some typical examples are when the duration of satellite signal blockage exceeds an INS bridging level, resulting in large accumulated INS errors that cannot be calibrated by GPS. Such a scenario, unfortunately, is a common occurrence for certain kinematic applications. To address such shortcomings, both pseudolite/INS and GPS/pseudolite/INS integration schemes are proposed here. Typically, the former is applicable for indoor positioning where the GPS signal is unavailable for use. The latter would be appropriate for system augmentation when the number and geometry of visible satellites is not sufficient for accurate positioning or attitude determination. In this paper, some technical issues concerned with implementing these two integration schemes are described, including the measurement model, and the appropriate integration filter for INS error estimation and correction through GPS and pseudolite (PL) carrier phase measurements. In addition, the results from the processing of simulated measurements, as well as field experiments, are presented in order to characterize the system performance. As a result, it has been established that the GPS/PL/INS and PL/INS integration schemes would make it possible to ensure centimeter-level positioning accuracy even if the number of GPS signals is insufficient, or completely unavailable. Electronic Publication     

多频率多极化地表辐射参数化模型

发展了针对对地观测系统被动微波辐射计AMSR-E应用的裸露地表辐射模型。首先，利用1993年法国INRA地面试验数据对AIEM在宽波段高频率和大角度的辐射信号模拟能力进行评价。验证结果表明，AIEM模型模拟值与地面实测数据吻合很好，说明AIEM模型能很好模拟宽波段和大角度的辐射信号。在此基础上，用AIEM模型建立了一个针对AMSR-E传感器参数配置．包含各种地表粗糙度和介电特性的裸露地表辐射模拟数据库。利用AIEM模拟数据和地面实测数据对目前人们使用的半经验地表模型进行了比较和分析，发展了多频率多极化的地表辐射参数化模型——Qp模型。该模型中，地表粗糙度对辐射信号的影响通过粗糙度参数Qp来表示。参数Qp可简单表示为均方根高度与相关长度的比值（s／l）。从Qp模型与AIEM模型模拟的发射率比较结果来看，它们之间的绝对误差很小，不超过10^-3因而，本文发展的参数化模型可用作模拟地表辐射的前向模型，如用于估算AMSR-E传感器的亮温值，同时模型的发展有利于提高人们对辐射机制的理解和认识。     

基于高斯模型的样本缺失GPS时间序列重构方法

缺失样本的存在会造成GPS时间序列速度估计的不确定性,从而影响GPS时间序列的应用。针对该问题本文提出一种基于高斯模型的样本缺失GPS时间序列重构方法,首先利用高斯概率密度函数对GPS时间序列的先验分布进行建模,在此基础上构建全概率贝叶斯统计模型,采用期望最大(Expectation Maximization,EM)算法对模型参数(隐变量)进行迭代更新并计算其最大似然估计值,最终完成信号重构。分别对随机缺失和分段连续缺失两种情况进行实验分析,结果表明所提方法相对于传统插值方法可以获得更好的重构性能。     

用双频GPS观测值建立小区域电离层延迟模型研究

介绍了用双频GPS伪距观测值建立区域性电离层模型的基本原理和方法。模型的初步结果表明，该电离层模型建立后，可为性病区域的广大单频用户提供在天顶方向优于0．4m精度的电离层延迟改正量，且具有30min以内天顶方向优于0．4m的预报精度。     

Adaptive wavelet transform based on cross-validation method and its application to GPS multipath mitigation

Global positioning system (GPS) multipath disturbance is a bottleneck problem that limits the accuracy of precise GPS positioning applications. A method based on the technique of cross-validation for automatically identifying wavelet signal layers is developed and used for separating noise from signals in data series, and applied to mitigate GPS multipath effects. Experiments with both simulated data series and real GPS observations show that the method is a powerful signal decomposer, which can successfully separate noise from signals as long as the noise level is lower than about half of the magnitude of the signals. A multipath correction model is derived based on the proposed method and the sidereal day-to-day repeating property of GPS multipath signals to remove multipath effects on GPS observations and to improve the quality of the GPS measurements.     

SDINS/GPS in-flight alignment using GPS carrier phase rate

The alignments of the strapdown inertial navigation system (SDINS) utilizing GPS carrier phase rate measurements is introduced. In this paper, a measurement model of GPS carrier phase rate under two antenna configurations is derived in order to be used for the SDINS alignment process. For in-flight alignment, the performance of the proposed SDINS/GPS integration method is analyzed using the covariance analysis and the overall performance is briefly confirmed by the navigation result of a van test. Furthermore, we find that during in-flight alignment the proposed SDINS/GPS integrated system using GPS carrier phase rate measurements can be implemented in real time because the integer ambiguity problem resulting from carrier phase measurements is avoided.     

全局收敛LM算法优化的机载激光测深信号提取方法

在机载激光测深系统中,水面与水底回波信号的提取精度是影响系统测深能力的关键因素,然而传统的信号提取方法易受噪声影响,精度低,对测量环境的适应性差。针对上述问题,提出一种全局收敛LM(Levenberg Marquardt)算法优化的机载激光测深信号提取方法。首先通过模糊筛选得到较为可靠的初值;然后利用基于全局收敛LM的波形分解算法对波形进行分析建模,从而获取每个初值点的高斯分解参数;最后通过多条件筛选确定精确的水面、水底回波信号位置。利用实测数据和模拟数据分别进行实验,结果表明提出方法对回波信号具有较高的检测正确率,且稳定性较强。     

融合GPS与强震仪数据实时监测瞬时地壳形变

针对强震仪与GPS各自的优点与缺陷，以2016年意大利Mw 6.0级地震为例，探讨了利用Kalman滤波融合GPS与强震仪数据实时监测中等强度地震引起的瞬时地壳形变的可行性与优势。Kalman滤波获取的位移波形以GPS数据作为整体趋势，细节部分用强震仪数据进行描述，融合后的位移波形精度较高，能够准确和细致地描述地震引起的地表动态形变；与此同时，Kalman滤波位移波形也能够准确地探测中等强度地震引起的同震永久阶跃；Kalman滤波位移波形的功率谱在低频部分与GPS位移波形的功率谱密度相似，在高频部分与强震仪位移波形的功率谱密度相似，表明Kalman滤波结合了GPS与强震仪各自的优点；交叉小波分析表明，Kalman滤波获取的位移波形与GPS、强震仪数据呈现较强的正相关性，小波相似值均在0.8以上。以上结果表明，融合GPS与强震仪数据可以结合二者各自的优点，弥补各自的缺陷；融合GPS与强震仪数据可以有效探测中等强度地震引起的瞬时地壳形变。     

Improved Understanding of Soil Surface Roughness Parameterization for L-Band Passive Microwave Soil Moisture Retrieval

Surface roughness parameterization plays an important role in soil moisture retrieval from passive microwave observations. This letter investigates the parameterization of surface roughness in the retrieval algorithm adopted by the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission, making use of experimental airborne and ground data from the National Airborne Field Experiment held in Australia in 2005. The surface roughness parameter is retrieved from high-resolution (60 m) airborne data in different soil moisture conditions, using the ground soil moisture as input of the model. The effect of surface roughness on the emitted signal is found to change with the soil moisture conditions with a law different from that proposed in previous studies. The magnitude of this change is found to be related to soil textural properties: in clay soils, the effect of surface roughness is higher in intermediate wetness conditions (0.2–0.3 v/v) and decreases on both the dry and wet ends. Consequently, this letter calls for a rethink of surface roughness parameterization in microwave emission modeling.      

Predicting road system speeds using spatial structure variables and network characteristics

Spatial regression is applied to GPS floating car measurements to build a predictive model of road system speed as a function of link type, time period, and spatial structure. The models correct for correlated spatial errors and autocorrelation of speeds. Correlation neighborhoods are based on either Euclidean or network distance. Econometric and statistical methods are used to choose the best model form and statistical neighborhood. Models of different types have different coefficient estimates and fit quality, which might affect inferences. Speed predictions are validated against a holdout sample to illustrate the usefulness of spatial regression in road system speed monitoring.      

Performance analysis of a stand-alone high-sensitivity receiver

The use of GPS for personal location using wireless devices requires satellite signal measurements both outdoors and indoors. In the outdoor environment propagation paths may range from line-of-sight to shaded or blocked. The indoor environment may range from single-floor wooden constructions to high-rise buildings and underground facilities. In this paper, a high-sensitivity receiver which operates in unaided stand-alone mode is tested under a range of shaded and blocked signal environments, ranging from residential outdoor areas to urban canyons and residential houses. The measurement analysis is performed in both the observation and position domains. The results show that the receiver tested is able to yield measurements with C/N₀ degradations in excess of 20 dB-Hz, as compared to line-of-sight measurements. Position results are a function of the geometry of the remaining satellites, which in turn is a function of the environment. Electronic Publication     

Using GPS for monitoring tall-building response to wind loading: filtering of abrupt changes and low-frequency noise,variography and spectral analysis of displacements

We compare two methods for monitoring the dynamic response of tall buildings to wind loading, using data from a 280-m-high building in Singapore. The first method is based on accelerometer measurements. The second method is based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. The GPS can in principle detect absolute displacements with lower frequencies than the accelerometers, but the GPS positioning signal is usually very noisy. We propose a systematic procedure for modeling the stochastic and systematic components of the GPS displacement time series and for extracting the weak structural response from the dominant noise. The spectrum of the building response obtained from the filtered GPS data exhibits a dominant peak at 0.19 Hz. The frequency of the peak coincides with that obtained from the analysis of the accelerometer data. The proposed analysis of the GPS signal provides a method for cross-validating the GPS and accelerometer measurements, and shows that “educated” filtering of the GPS signal can reveal essential features of the building’s response to wind loading.     

The Influence of Urban Street Characteristics on Pedestrian Heat Comfort Levels in Philadelphia

This article demonstrates a way to model the urban microclimate using a combination of statistical analysis and a geographic information system (GIS). Field measurements of ambient temperature and relative humidity were collected in various urban settings at ground level over two surface materials and at two different times of the day. A panel autoregressive (PAR) model was created to conduct a regression analysis capable of accounting for the spatial autocorrelation. With the PAR analyses, selected urban street characteristics showed varying effects over the different surface materials and at different times of the day. The overall influences were consistent with previous findings. PAR models were then applied in GIS to create thermal prediction maps for the study area to determine the hot and cool spots. Since GIS is the most commonly used technology among a wide range of researchers and professionals, this article provides a means to improve the synthesis, integration, and sharing of information to understand the relationship between the heat‐vulnerable population and heat stress within the urban environment. This methodology will be useful in the effort to reduce the heat‐related morbidity and mortality, which are expected to increase with projected global warming.     

GPS与TPS集成超站仪的数据转换研究

在讨论GPS与TPS两大测量技术特点的基础上，研究了两者的集成技术和数据转换问题，重点是如何利用GSP技术实时求得TPS的测站空间直角坐标，再通过合适的数学模型转换为地方坐标系的二维直角坐标和正常高。将GPS接收单元集成到TSP上构成超站仪测量系统，可以实现测站点与碎部点的同步测绘模式。     

利用地面气象观测资料确定对流层加权平均温度

地基GPS气象学的核心思想是通过垂直方向上GPS信号的湿分量延时确定出可降水分 ,而这两个物理量之间的转换必须使用对流层加权平均温度。本文首先讨论了上述转换估计中加权平均温度的几种逼近方式及其容许误差 ,然后利用香港地区的地面和高空气象资料 ,采用逐步回归分析方法 ,建立了适合香港地区的对流层加权平均温度计算公式 ,通过数据分析表明 ,这个公式有效地消除了在香港地区使用Bevis经验公式引起的系统误差 ,较好地满足了地基GPS气象应用中实时性和高精度的要求。本研究也充分表明 ,在地基GPS气象研究中 ,应该利用本地区的气象资料来确定适合本地区的估计对流层加权平均温度的经验公式。     

基于高频观测值的不同GNSS卫星钟稳定性分析

在GNSS高精度数据处理中,卫星钟差往往是决定结果精度的核心因素之一。采用20 Hz的双频观测数据对GNSS星载原子钟0.05~100 s平滑时间下的短期稳定性进行分析,通过星间单差的方法消除接收机钟差,采用无电离层组合及夜间观测避免电离层高阶项短期变化的影响,同时采用经验模型和映射函数来进行对流层延迟改正。通过Lag 1自相关函数分析了影响GNSS卫星钟稳定性的主要噪声类型,并使用阿伦方差计算分析GPS、GLONASS及BDS各自系统内不同卫星组合之间的钟差。结果表明,GPS、GLONASS及BDS系统钟差稳定性0.05秒稳均可达到10-10量级,秒稳可达10-11量级。可以认定,GPS、GLONASS及BDS在短期内的稳定性量级相当,从而验证了基于星间单差的BDS掩星数据处理方案的可行性。