Snow Depth Estimation Using Pseudorange and Carrier Phase of GNSS Signals

Snow is an important component in the ecological and climate systems. Snow depth is an important measurement unit of snowfall. Tangible snow depth variation in a global scale can lead to global climate change. This paper focuses on the use of global navigation satellite system reflectometry (GNSS-R) technique for estimating snow depth. The GNSS continuously operating reference station (CORS) stations deployed over the world can be used to monitor the snow depth continuously. This paper proposes a new method for snow depth estimation based on GNSS-R, which makes use of both pseudorange and carrier phase measurements of single-frequency GNSS signals. A field campaign was carried out during the winter season of 2017–2018 in northeastern China where very cold weather was experienced. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can produce snow depth estimates with accuracy of better than 4 cm.