Abstract Measurements of the sea surface height (SSH) can be carried out with GNSS aboard ships, but data about the static draft and the hydrodynamic squat effect are necessary. This information is often not available or has an insufficient accuracy. In this study, an alternative method based on the GNSS signal-to-noise ratio observations is presented. Using this method, the distance between the water surface and a GNSS antenna can be estimated directly, if corrections of the heave and the ship’s attitude are considered properly. Suitable segments of a 3-month dataset, gathered aboard a ferry ship operating in the German Bight, were analysed. A global optimization approach based on interval analysis was used and all available observations from a segment were analysed in a common adjustment calculation. The resulting SSH was validated with data from a tide gauge station at Heligoland. The mean difference is 4 mm and a standard deviation of the differences of 5.3 cm was found. The SSH for the same GNSS dataset was also derived from a well-established processing based on the comprehensive consideration of ship dynamics. The mean difference with respect to the tide gauge was 2 mm with a slightly smaller standard deviation of 4.0 cm.

中文翻译：

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从 GNSS 信号反射辅助的船基测量中反演海面高度

摘要 海面高度（SSH）的测量可以通过船上的 GNSS 进行，但需要有关静态吃水和水动力下沉效应的数据。此信息通常不可用或准确性不足。在这项研究中，提出了一种基于 GNSS 信噪比观测的替代方法。如果适当考虑升沉和船舶姿态的修正，使用这种方法可以直接估计水面和 GNSS 天线之间的距离。对在德国湾运营的渡轮上收集的 3 个月数据集的合适片段进行了分析。使用了基于区间分析的全局优化方法，并在一个共同的调整计算中分析了一个段的所有可用观测值。由此产生的 SSH 得到了来自 Heligoland 测潮站的数据的验证。平均差异为 4 毫米，发现差异的标准偏差为 5.3 厘米。相同 GNSS 数据集的 SSH 也源自基于船舶动力学综合考虑的完善处理。与潮汐计的平均差异为 2 毫米，标准偏差略小，为 4.0 厘米。