Seeing Water Through the Electromagnetic Spectrum

Webinar Speaker:

Cinzia Zuffada

Affiliation:

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

  • 7 July 2026
  • 3:00 PM UTC
  • Sponsored by IEEE GRSS
  • TC Webinar - MIRS

About the Webinar

Water monitoring increasingly relies on observations from multiple sensing modalities, including optical, thermal, passive microwave, and active microwave systems. These complementary observations provide critical information for addressing challenges related to floods, wetlands, reservoirs, droughts, and climate extremes.

As the kick-off webinar of the IEEE GRSS Water Applications via Electromagnetic Signatures (WAVES) Working Group under the MIRS Technical Committee, this event will introduce the vision, scope, and scientific motivation of the new community. The presentation will discuss programmatic priorities based on scientific questions, stakeholder needs, and the role of researchers in community building, benchmark development, and the transition toward operational relevance.

 

About the Speaker

Cinzia Zuffada (Senior Member, IEEE, currently Life Member) received the Doctorate of Engineering degree from the University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, in 1979. She is currently a Visiting Associate in Geophysics at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA and a Senior Fellow at the Scuola Superiore Studi Avanzati Sapienza. In 1992, she joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, USA, where she has served in several positions, retiring in 2023 as Deputy Chief Scientist. As such, she was a key contributor to the strategic planning of science and technology research and development directions for JPL and to managing institutional internal research and development investments. In addition, she oversaw a number of programs supporting collaborations between JPL and the academic community. Since the late 1990s, she has led some pioneering GNSS reflectometry technology development awarded through the NASA IIP and has played a pivotal role in demonstrating the feasibility of the GPS altimetry measurement from fixed sites and airplanes. More recently, she has been focusing on the application of GNSS reflectometry to detect surface water, and was a member of the competed science team of NASA CYGNSS. She has been a member of the Science Advisory Group for GEROS, an ESA led GNSS reflectometry experiment study. She is a member of the Science Advisory Group for HydroGNSS, an ESA Scout mission launched in 2025.
She was a tenured Researcher in electromagnetic (EM) field theory with the University of Pavia before moving to USA, where she worked in EM scattering and radiation problems. Dr. Zuffada is a member of URSI Commission B and American Geophysical Union. She was a recipient of the Teresian Medal from the University of Pavia in 2002, the Magellan Award from JPL in 2014, the Outstanding Leadership Award from NASA in 2015, and the Knighthood of Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2015. She has been an Associate Editor of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING.

Recorded Webinar

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