WAN Wei, CHEN Xiuwan, PENG Xuefeng, et al. Overview and outlook of GNSS remote sensing technology and applications[J]. Journal of Remote Sensing, 2016,20(5):858-874.
WAN Wei, CHEN Xiuwan, PENG Xuefeng, et al. Overview and outlook of GNSS remote sensing technology and applications[J]. Journal of Remote Sensing, 2016,20(5):858-874. DOI: 10.11834/jrs.20166228.
including the United States Global Positioning System(GPS)
Russian GLONASS
the European Union’s Galileo
and China’s Bei Dou
provide L-band microwave signals with high temporal resolution. These systemshave extended the applications of the GNSS from positioning/navigation to remote sensing. Since the 1990 s
the versatile refracted GNSS signals have been successfully demonstrated to sound the ionosphere and troposphere. In the pasttwo decades
reflected signals
which involve making measurements of the reflections from the Earth
have shown theircapacity for earth observations over wateror land.On the basis of such background
GNSS remote sensing
as a hybrid of GNSS and remote sensing
has been developed over the years. The concepts of GNSS remote sensing can be summarized into two categories: GNSS refractometryand GNSS reflectometry(GNSS-R). The applications of GNSS remote sensing involves atmospheric water vapor
seismo-ionospheric disturbances
oceans
lands
hydrology
and the cryosphere. To further promote the applications of the GNSS remote sensing technology in atmospheric
seismic
and water cycle studies
this review systematically introduces the international and domestic forefront of GNSS remote sensing technology and its applications
with a focus on GNSS/meteorology
GNSS ionospheric seismology
GNSS radio occultation
ocean observations
land applications
cryosphere applications
and missions of GNSS-R. We also discuss and provide an overview of the bottlenecks related to the further development of each branch of GNSS remote sensing. The next generations of GNSS systems
especially GPS III and Bei Dou II
are expected to show improved performance and offer excellentcapabilities to users around the globe. This study can provide references for the future development of GNSS remote sensing technologiesand otherrelated subjects.