Examining Reception of GNSS Underwater using a Smartphone

Matthew Yuan and Sherman Lo

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	One of the limits of GNSS is in its use in the oceans and other bodies of water. While it can serve some ocean surface applications, its use for tracking marine life that rarely surfaces is limited. However, if we can understand how far underwater GNSS may be received, we can further extend its use envelope and perhaps enable it to serve more marine tracking applications. This paper examines the limits of GNSS reception underwater with measurements data from a smartphone as well as theoretical modeling. Different types of water (tap, distilled and salt) are examined as they have different electrical properties which affects the attenuation of the GNSS signals. The paper also examines the difference in smartphones L1 and L5 reception both on land and underwater.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2022 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 25 - 27, 2022 Hyatt Regency Long Beach Long Beach, California
Pages:	655 - 670
Cite this article:	Yuan, Matthew, Lo, Sherman, "Examining Reception of GNSS Underwater using a Smartphone," Proceedings of the 2022 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, Long Beach, California, January 2022, pp. 655-670. https://doi.org/10.33012/2022.18250
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