Howard Zebker

Howard Zebker is the Kwoh-Ting Li Professor of Engineering and Professor of Geophysics at Stanford University. His research group specializes in interferometric radar remote sensing applications and technique development, as applied to studies of the Earth and solar system. Originally a microwave engineer, he built support equipment for the SEASAT satellite synthetic aperture radar and designed airborne radar systems. He later developed imaging radar polarimetry, a technique for measurement of the radar scattering matrix of a surface. He is best known for the development of radar interferometry, or InSAR, leading to spaceborne and airborne sensors capable of measuring topography to meter scale accuracy and surface deformation to mm scale. He has served as science team member for a number of NASA space missions, including the Spaceborne Imaging Radar series, Cassini Mission to Saturn, and several missions leading up to the present day NISAR radar remote sensing satellite. His work has primarily concentrated on analysis of data acquired by radar/radiometer instruments and the development of new application areas. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the AGU, IEEE, and Electromagnetics Academy. He has served on a number of National Academy panels, mostly for the Space Studies Board, plus the Naval Studies Board Advanced Radar Technology Panel. He holds a joint appointment with the Department of Geophysics and the Department of Electrical Engineering at Stanford, where he also serves as Associate Chair for admissions.