The September “Innovation” column in this magazine,
“It’s Not All Bad: Understanding and Using GNSS
Multipath,” by Andria Bilich and Kristine Larson (see
www.gpsworld.com/multipath), mentions the use of multipath in studying soil moisture, ocean altimetry and winds, and snow sensing. An experiment the authors conducted, designed to study soil moisture, yielded a surprise bonus: a new methodology for measuring snow depth via GPS multipath. It has important implications for weather and flood forecasting, and could also bring new insight to bear on GPS antenna design.