Abstract

A Dual Circular Polarized (CP) reception method is proposed to simultaneously record direct and reflected signals in GNSS reflectometry. The purpose of using a dual CP antenna system is to exploit incident wave’s polarization variation after reflection. This paper presents the theoretical background for dual CP reception system and the advantage of using dual CP system over a single polarization. Theoretical multipath propagation is validated by measurements performed at frozen Baltic sea. The Right-Hand Circular Polarization (RHCP) and Left-Hand Circular Polarization (LHCP) received signals are post-processed to retrieve information about the measurement environment. The analysis method gives the evidence of penetration of GNSS signal into the layered media and the possibility to characterize ice-thickness or layered media using only C/N0 data.