Jack Tarricone
(ASSISTANT RESEARCH SCIENTIST)
| Email: | jack.tarricone@nasa.gov |
| Org Code: | |
| Address: |
NASA/GSFC Mail Code 617 Greenbelt, MD 20771 |
| Employer: | UNIV OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK |
Brief Bio
Dr. Jack Tarricone is a snow hydrologist and Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Maryland, College Park, Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC), based at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, Code 617. He received his Ph.D. in Hydrology from the University of Nevada, Reno, and his B.A. in Geography from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Dr. Tarricone’s research focuses on improving observations of snow water resources in mountain and high-latitude regions by integrating satellite remote sensing, airborne observations, field measurements, and modeling. His work develops and evaluates synthetic aperture radar (SAR) methods, including interferometric SAR (InSAR), for estimating snow water equivalent (SWE), a key measure of how much water is stored in snowpacks. He is particularly interested in how radar observations can be used to retrieve snow properties through multiple physical mechanisms, including interferometric phase changes related to snow mass and radar scattering within the snowpack.
His current projects include evaluating L-band InSAR-based SWE retrievals using NISAR, airborne lidar, field observations, and snow modeling, as well as investigating Ku- and X-band SAR approaches for characterizing snowpack properties. More broadly, Dr. Tarricone is interested in how complementary satellite observations, airborne observations, and snow modeling frameworks can be used together to improve snow and water resource monitoring from regional to global scales. He is a proponent of open-source science and develops reproducible, community-accessible tools and algorithms for SAR snow research.
In addition to his research, Dr. Tarricone leads the NASA InSAR SWE Working Group, serves on the Snow International (SINTER) Executive Committee, participates in snow remote sensing and field campaigns across the western United States and Canada, and volunteers to teach field and remote sensing methods in snow science.
Current Projects
NISAR for Global Snow Water Equivalent: Evaluating L-band InSAR for Basin-Scale Snow Monitoring by Leveraging Airborne Lidar, Modeling, and the SnowEx Campaigns
Remote Sensing
SnowEx Alaska Synthesis: Deriving and Validating Spatially Distributed SWE from NASA’s SWESARR Using In Situ, Airborne, and Modeled Data
Remote Sensing
Positions/Employment
Assistant Research Scientist
NASA GSFC - Greenbelt, MD
April 2025 - Present
Assitant Research Scientist
Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park - Greenbelt, MD
April 2025 - Present
NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow
ORAU, Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD
September 2023 - April 2025
Graduate Research Assistant
University of Nevada, Reno - Reno, NV
August 2019 - August 2023
Education
PhD, Hydrology, University of Nevada, Reno, 2023
BA, Geography magna cum laude, Hydrology Certificate, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2016
Professional Societies
American Geophysical Union
2019 - Present
Professional Service
- Peer reviewer: Water Resources Research, The Cryosphere, Remote Sensing of the Environment (invited)
- Executive Committee Member: Snow International (SINTER)
- Co-Lead: NASA InSAR SWE Working Group
Awards
Outstanding Student Presentation Award (OSPA), Cryosphere Section, AGU Fall Meeting, 2021
Instrumentation Discovery Travel Grant (Awarded), CUAHSI, 2022
GPHS Outstanding Student, UNR, 2022
Wilson, Jerry, & Betty Hydrology Scholarship, UNR 2022
Graduate Student Access Grant, UNR, 2022
Robert E. Dickenson Scholarship, UNR, 2021
V. John Eisinger Memorial Endowed Scholarship, UNR, 2021
Hydrologic Sciences Scholarship Endowment, UNR, 2020
Grants
Advancing radar remote sensing of snow water equivalent
NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Fellowship - Goddard Space Flight Center - National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - Awarded: 2023-02-05
Dates: -
Selected Publications
Refereed
2026. "Feasibility Mapping of L‐Band InSAR for SWE Retrievals Across the Western United States.", Geophysical Research Letters, 53 (10): e2025GL120162 [10.1029/2025gl120162] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "Satellite Radar Advances Could Transform Global Snow Monitoring.", Eos, 106 [10.1029/2025eo250476] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "What's Next for Snow: Insights From the NASA Terrestrial Hydrology Program Community Snow Meeting.", Earth's Future, 13 (12): e2025EF006460 [10.1029/2025ef006460] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "A Review of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Phase-Based Techniques for Monitoring Seasonal Snow.", Water Resources Research (Under Review), [10.22541/essoar.176409489.90514146/v1] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "Investigating the Impact of Optical Snow Cover Data on L-Band InSAR Snow Water Equivalent Retrievals.", Journal of Remote Sensing, 5 0682 [10.34133/remotesensing.0682] [Journal Article/Letter]
2025. "Restoring Historic Forest Disturbance Frequency Would Partially Mitigate Droughts in the Central Sierra Nevada Mountains.", Water Resources Research, 61 (4): [10.1029/2024wr039227] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Evaluating Snow Depth Retrievals from Sentinel-1 Volume Scattering over NASA SnowEx Sites.", The Cryosphere, 18 (11): 5407-5430 [10.5194/tc-18-5407-2024] [Journal Article/Letter]
2024. "Evaluating L-band InSAR Snow Water Equivalent Retrievals with Repeat Ground-Penetrating Radar and Terrestrial Lidar Surveys in Northern Colorado.", The Cryosphere, 18 (8): 3765-3785 [10.5194/tc-18-3765-2024] [Journal Article/Letter]
2023. "Estimating snow accumulation and ablation with L-band interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR).", The Cryosphere, 17 (5): 1997-2019 [10.5194/tc-17-1997-2023] [Journal Article/Letter]