The first attempt to perform precision altimetry over sea ice using GPS reflectometry measurements from the low-Earth orbiting Tech demoSat-1 was reported in 2017.

This technique, which uses reflected signals to measure properties of Earth’s surface, is a growing area of research and application for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) remote sensing.

The University of Colorado has deployed a GPS data collection site on Mount Haleakalā in Hawaii to study the challenges associated with processing reflected and low-elevation-angle radio occultation signals.