Tarricone et al. (2026) Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) for Monitoring Seasonal Snow

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Water Resources Research
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-01
• Authors: Jack Tarricone, Ross T. Palomaki, Randall Bonnell, Zachary Hoppinen, Shadi Oveisgharan, Jorge Jorge Ruiz, Hans‐Peter Marshall, Elias Deeb, Carrie M. Vuyovich, S. A. Margulis, Simon H Yueh, R. R. Forster, Ryan Webb, Daniel McGrath, Juha Lemmetyinen, Kelly J. Elder, Rashmi Shah, Xiaolan Xu
• DOI: 10.1029/2025wr042866

Research Groups

• Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
• NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Short Summary

This review synthesizes the use of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) for measuring seasonal snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow depth at basin-scale hydrology. InSAR can provide high-resolution, spatially distributed information on snow accumulation and ablation under dry-snow conditions.

Objective

• Investigate the potential of InSAR for measuring SWE and snow depth at spatial and temporal scales needed for basin-scale hydrology

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Basin-scale hydrology ( regional to global)
• Temporal Scale: Seasonal (monthly to yearly)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: None mentioned, but InSAR-based retrieval physics are discussed
• Data sources: Satellite data from various wavelengths (e.g., L-band) and spaceborne studies

Main Results

• InSAR can provide high-resolution, spatially distributed information on snow accumulation and ablation under dry-snow conditions.
• Longer wavelengths (L-band) help maintain coherence, reduce phase-wrapping ambiguity, and support retrievals in some vegetated environments.

Contributions

• This review provides a comprehensive synthesis of the use of InSAR for measuring SWE and snow depth at basin-scale hydrology, highlighting its potential as an important component of an integrated global snow observation suite.
• The study identifies remaining challenges to operational implementation, including correcting ionospheric and tropospheric delays, defining stable reference phases, and accounting for forest-canopy interactions.

Funding

• NASA's Earth Science Division (grant number: NNX16AQ61G)
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Citation

@article{Tarricone2026Interferometric,
  author = {Tarricone, Jack and Palomaki, Ross T. and Bonnell, Randall and Hoppinen, Zachary and Oveisgharan, Shadi and Ruiz, Jorge Jorge and Marshall, Hans‐Peter and Deeb, Elias and Vuyovich, Carrie  M. and Margulis, S. A. and Yueh, Simon H and Forster, R. R. and Webb, Ryan and McGrath, Daniel and Lemmetyinen, Juha and Elder, Kelly J. and Shah, Rashmi and Xu, Xiaolan},
  title = {Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) for Monitoring Seasonal Snow},
  journal = {Water Resources Research},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1029/2025wr042866},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2025wr042866}
}