Oceanpal/sup /spl reg// a GPS-reflection coastal instrument to monitor tide and sea-state

The Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, such as the GPS and GLONASS constellations) and their augmentation systems (WAAS, EGNOS) constitute premium sources of opportunity for passive remote sensing. By 2010, after the deployment of the European Galileo constellation, more than 50 GNSS satellites will be emitting self-calibrating, dual-frequency, rain-immune, L-band spread spectrum signals with long-term availability and stability. The use of GNSS reflections (GNSS-R) for sea-surface monitoring is a bistatic radar technique only requiring a receiving system. The concept was initially proposed by M. Martin-Neira in 1993 and has, since then, been successfully implemented in coastal receivers, in aircraft and recently, in space. The potential applications include sea-surface altimetry, sea-state, surface roughness, surface currents and salinity, both for scientific and operational oceanography. In this paper, we present Oceanpal/sup /spl reg//, a GNSS-R sensor developed by Starlab for operational coastal monitoring. It is an inexpensive, all-weather, dry and passive concept which can be deployed on multiple platforms, static (coasts, harbors, off-shore), and slowly moving (boats, floating platforms, buoys). In its present form, Oceanpal/sup /spl reg// can deliver two kinds of Level-2 products: the sea-surface height and the significant wave height.