Remote sensing using Rydberg atoms and satellite signals of opportunity

Spaceborne radar remote sensing of the earth system is essential to study natural and man-made changes in the ecosystem, water and energy cycles, weather and air quality, sea level, and surface dynamics. A major challenge with current approaches is the lack of broad spectrum tunability due to narrow band microwave electronics, that limit systems to specific science variable retrievals. This results in a significant limitation in studying dynamic coupled earth system processes such as surface and subsurface hydrology, where broad spectrum radar remote sensing is needed to sense multiple variables simultaneously. Rydberg atomic sensors are highly sensitive broad-spectrum quantum detectors that can be dynamically tuned to cover micro-to-millimeter waves with no requirement for band-specific electronics. Rydberg atomic sensors can use existing transmitted signals such as navigation and communication satellites to enable remote sensing. We demonstrate remote sensing of soil moisture, an important earth system variable, via ground-based radar reflectometry with Rydberg atomic systems. To do this, we sensitize the atoms to XM satellite radio signals and use signal correlations to demonstrate use of these satellite signals for remote sensing of soil moisture – a step towards broad spectrum atomic remote sensing.