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GPS Receiver Noise Can Be Used To Detect Snow Depth

Posted by timothy on from the for-the-journal-of-sensors-and-transducers dept.

cremeglace writes "Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder have found a use for GPS besides finding restaurants or the occasional road-that-doesn't-exist: it can be used to measure snow depth. The new technique, which takes advantage of distortions of the GPS signal after it reflects off the snowpack, may potentially improve weather forecasts by allowing meteorologists to track snowfall patterns. ScienceNOW has the story, which one geophysicist describes as 'a classical case of one person's noise becoming another person's signal.'"

6 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. It's... by SunSaw · · Score: 3, Funny

    snow joke!

    --
    --When it's my time, I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather -- not screaming like all the passengers in his car
  2. Simpler tool by rossdee · · Score: 3, Funny

    There already exists a tool for measuring snow depth. Its called a ruler. There are imperial (yardstick) and metric varieties.

    Another useful thing is a shovel, you can dig yourself out, and cut a path to the part of the road that has been plowed.

    A cellphone is very useful too, you can call work and tell them you are stuck in a snowdrift and won't be in today. Don't forget to get out of the car before calling though, since in some places its illegal to use a cellphone in a car.

    1. Re:Simpler tool by Thornburg · · Score: 4, Informative

      TFA is talking about using an existing network of 1100 GPS receivers currently tracking plate tectonics to also track snowfall, without any additional equipment and without interfering with their current operation.

      This not about using your Garmin to find out how much snow is in your front yard.

    2. Re:Simpler tool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Pro-tip: You don't get to decide who gets to do what based on their uid if you are posting anonymously.
      * Note irony in this response.

  3. So, we've discovered by idontgno · · Score: 3, Insightful

    satellite radar altimetry.

    Of course, it's accidental radar altimetry, rather than a dedicated instrument. Neat hack.

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    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    1. Re:So, we've discovered by PeterBrett · · Score: 4, Informative

      satellite radar altimetry.

      Of course, it's accidental radar altimetry, rather than a dedicated instrument. Neat hack.

      Um, no. It's not like SRA, apart from the use of a satellite, RF radiation, and the measurement of a distance.

      Main differences:

      • This system is bistatic; SRA is monostatic.
      • This system uses an (almost) isotropic antenna to collect radiation from pretty much everywhere; SRA uses a high gain antenna to survey only a very narrow target swathe.
      • This system measures the effective speed of light in a multipath environment, assuming the multipath reflectors are at fixed distances; SRA measures the distance of multipath reflectors, assuming the effective speed of light is fixed.

      Disclaimer: I work on satellite synthetic aperture radar, which is different again, and my knowledge of SRA isn't comprehensive.

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      Pirate Party UK