Oceanpal

Reflected signals carry significant information on sea state and topography, and experimental work as well as simulations have demonstrated the potential of this concept for coastal altimetry and sea state monitoring.

As seen from the instrument, several GNSS emitters are simultaneously in view at any given time, thus providing separated scattering points with different geometries and strengthening the extraction of oceanographic variables.

Reflected signals are affected by surface "roughness" and motion (i.e., sea state, orbital motion, ...), mean surface height and surface dielectric properties (i.e., salinity and pollution), soil moiture, etc. The instrument uses the "noisy" reflected electric field to infer surface properties, using robust techniques.

Although bistatic radar can work with various sources of opportunity, GNSS are in many ways unique. Thanks to its GNSS heritage, Oceanpal® is an inexpensive, all-weather, dry and passive concept for remote sensing of the ocean and other water surfaces, for accurate provision of sea state and altimetry.

The instrument can be deployed on multiple platforms: static (coasts, harbors, off-shore), and slowly moving (e.g., boats, floating platforms, buoys, stratospheric platforms, aircraft, geo-stationary satellites).