Detection of Thunderstorm Using Indian Navigation Satellite NavIC

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing Vol. 58; no. 5; pp. 3677 - 3684
• Main Authors: Das, Saurabh, Datta, Soumen, Shukla, Ashish K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.05.2020; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Dynamic time warping (DTW); Extraterrestrial measurements; Global navigation satellite system; Indian spacecraft; Ionospheric propagation; L-band; Meteorology; Navigation; Navigation satellites; Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC); Navigational satellites; S-band; Satellite constellations; Satellites; Sea measurements; Signal monitoring; Signal strength; Superhigh frequencies; thunderstorm; Thunderstorms; Weather
• ISSN: 0196-2892; 1558-0644
• DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2019.2960035

Navigation satellites provide a good opportunity to monitor both ionospheric and tropospheric conditions by using propagation delays in the L-band signal. However, the availability of S-band frequency in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC), provides a unique opportunity to utilize signal strength for monitoring thunderstorms. This article, for the first time, demonstrates that NavIC satellite signal strength measurements can be used to detect thunderstorms. A dynamic time warping technique has been used to detect the presence of thunderstorm cloud systems. The method has been tested with several case studies in Kolkata using one-year measurements. The results indicate suitability of such techniques for monitoring and forecasting of thunderstorms using a navigation satellite.