WATER: AGU Fall Meeting Session H068 - From Surface Water to Groundwater: Tracking Hydrologic Dynamics with NISAR and SAR

[Adrian Borsa]

Dear EarthScope Colleagues,

We invite those of you working in or adjacent to the hydrological domain to consider submitting to the 2026 AGU Meeting session below.  There are multiple NISAR- and InSAR-themed sessions at AGU this year, so if this is not the perfect fit, a little searching should reveal one that suits your needs!

H068 - From Surface Water to Groundwater: Tracking Hydrologic Dynamics with NISAR and SAR

The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) Mission is now collecting observational data across all of Earth's land surfaces, with applications spanning both surface water and groundwater systems. NISAR-derived deformation time series can be used to characterize cm-level surface changes associated with aquifer pumping and recharge. Separately, SAR backscatter and polarization can be used to monitor surface water extent, including flooding dynamics, reservoir area changes, and wetland inundation, providing context for interpreting subsurface water storage. Understanding the balance between surface water availability and aquifer flows is critical to assessing the sustainability of human water use. This session welcomes contributions that highlight the use of NISAR and other SAR missions to: 1) characterize surface water dynamics and aquifer response to groundwater changes, 2) improve our understanding of the processes underlying the surface expression of groundwater volume changes, and 3) translate surface height change and inundation into actionable information for water resource management.

Conveners

• Adrian A Borsa
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Erika Podest
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Eric Jameson Fielding
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
• David Bekaert
• Flemish institute for Technological Research 

Cross-listed with Geodesy, Global Environmental Change