Optimization and Performance Analysis of Interferometric GNSS-R Altimeters: Application to the PARIS IoD Mission

Reflectometry using Global Navigation Satellite System´s signals (GNSS-R) of opportunity was originally conceived in the early 1990 s for mesoscale altimetry, and since then, many studies have shown its applicability to other remote sensing applications such as sea state determination, soil moisture, vegetation, snow monitoring, etc. In December 2012, the Phase A studies of ESA´s PAssive Reflectometry and Interferometry System In-orbit Demonstration (PARIS IoD) mission concluded. In conventional GNSS-R (cGNSS-R), the satellite navigation signals scattered over the Earth´s surface are cross-correlated with a locally generated replica of the transmitted ones shifted in frequency (Δf_d), and in delay (Δτ). However, in PARIS, a different technique called interferometric GNSS-R (iGNSS-R) is used, which allows the use of the whole signal´s bandwidth, and improve the altimetry precision, despite the large bandwidth signals´ codes being not publically available. This is achieved by using the direct signal collected by a directive antenna, instead of the locally generated replica. This study presents a methodology to optimize the configuration of a generic iGNSS-R altimeter, and evaluate its performance. The methodology presented is then particularized to a PARIS IoD-like case.