Mario Moreno

G Geodesy

The 2024 Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is awarded to Mario Moreno for the poster/PICO entitled:

Ionospheric Impact on GNSS Reflectometry: A correction approach for the PRETTY satellite data (Moreno, M.; Semmling, M.; Stienne, G.; Hoque, M.; Wickert, J.)

Click here to download the poster/PICO file.

Mario Moreno is a doctoral candidate at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) - Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics and TU Berlin. He holds a degree in Cadastral Engineering and Geodesy from U. Distrital FJC of Bogotá, Colombia, and earned his master’s degree in Geodesy and Geoinformation from TU Berlin. His research focuses on atmospheric effects on GNSS Reflectometry (GNSS-R) from airborne and spaceborne observations.

During EGU 2024, Mario presented his work on the ionospheric impact on GNSS-R at grazing angles and a correction approach for ESA’s PRETTY GNSS-R satellite data. Since PRETTY is a single-frequency mission, it relies on models for atmospheric corrections. In this study, the 3D Neustrelitz Electron Density Model (NEDM2020) was used to obtain the sTEC and determine the relative ionospheric delay and Doppler shift (reflected path vs. direct path). Over 1,200 orbit data events from the SPIRE constellation, in a PRETTY-like scenario, were analyzed to characterize the ionospheric impact across three latitude regions (North, Tropics, South) and different elevation ranges. The results showed that as the elevation decreases below 20°, the relative ionospheric delay reduces due to the contribution of the direct signal. However, the increased standard deviation, particularly in Doppler shift, presents challenges for model-based corrections in GNSS-R at grazing angles.