Imprints of COVID-19 Lockdown on GNSS Observations: An Initial Demonstration Using GNSS Interferometric Reflectometry.

ABSTRACT: The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed tight mobility restrictions in urban areas, causing substantial reduction in roadway traffic. Many public parking lots are nearly vacant as people across the world have gone on lockdown since mid-March. This environmental change may have impacts on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors installed on roof of buildings. Here, we use a monitoring site in Boston to exemplify a likely sensitivity of precise GNSS sensors to their nearby dynamic environments including parked vehicles in parking lots. We show that reduced number of parked vehicles since 23 March has decreased the reflector roughness, resulting in an increase in the reflected signal power whose amplitude is quantified by GNSS interferometric reflectomet

SUBMITTER: Karegar MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7537003 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature