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Abstract:
Along with cell phones and the internet, satellite navigation is an integral part of everyday life. However, satellite navigation signals
provide much more than precise information on user locations. Even before the GPS was declared fully operational in 1995, the potential
for these globally and continuously available navigation signals for Earth observation and geoscientific applications was recognized.
Such applications include the precise monitoring of continental plate movements with sub-mm/year accuracy (now used in
real-time as part of early earthquake warning systems), regional and global atmospheric and ionospheric sounding to improve weather
forecasts and climate change predictions, and for monitoring of water, ice, and land surfaces. The Earth observation prospects
and related spectrum of applications are continuously growing, mainly stimulated by the transition from a single constellation (GPS)
to Multi-GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) with the Russian GLONASS, Chinese BeiDou and European Galileo satellites and
by the increasing number of GNSS receivers available both on the ground and aboard Low Earth Orbiting satellites.
