Analysis of Polarimetric GNSS-R Airborne Data as a Function of Land Use

The objective of this study is to analyze global navigation satellite system reflectometry (GNSS-R) data variations as a function of land cover using airborne measurements obtained with the global navigation satellite system reflectometry instrument (GLORI), which is a polarimetric instrument. GNSS-R measurements were acquired at the agricultural Urgell site in Spain in July 2021. In situ measurements describing the soil and vegetation properties were then obtained simultaneously with flight measurements. The behavior of the observable copolarization [right-right (RR)] reflectivity \boldsymbol {\Gamma }_{ \boldsymbol {RR}} and the cross-polarization [right-left (RL)] reflectivity \boldsymbol {\Gamma }_{ \boldsymbol {RL}} as a function of land use is discussed. The distribution of coherent and incoherent components in the reflected power is estimated for different types of land cover.