Geophysics PhD Defense – Elizabeth Wig, “Measuring Changes in Soil and Vegetation Moisture with InSAR Closure Phase”
April 23 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Title: Measuring Changes in Soil and Vegetation Moisture with InSAR Closure Phase
Date and Time: Apr 23, 2025, 12:00 PM Pacific
Location: Hartley Conference Center
Abstract: Knowing how moisture in soil and vegetation is changing is important for agricultural irrigation, wildfire risk management, permafrost dynamics, and flood and drought monitoring. Existing in-situ moisture measurements are sparse, while remotely sensed moisture measurements often have coarse resolution. In this thesis defense, I will show that we can measure moisture at fine resolution using InSAR closure phase, a quantity derived from a radar repeatedly passing over the same area. I’ll show how a simple model for closure phase can demonstrate its behavior, and how we can then use this model to measure moisture. This is a promising new way to remotely sense water content in soil and vegetation.