Dr. Susanna Werth @ HIRS
banner
swerthhirs.bsky.social
Dr. Susanna Werth @ HIRS
@swerthhirs.bsky.social
Susanna Werth's lab for monitoring groundwater from space with hydrogeodesy & data science methods at @vtgeosciences. Opinions are my own.
https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/hirs
Reposted by Dr. Susanna Werth @ HIRS
We wish you well, fellow Sentinel! With a gentle push, #Ariane6 has released the Copernicus Sentinel-1D satellite to orbit where it will begin its amazing life of scientific discoveries. Keep in touch!
📡🛰️
November 4, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Imagine your city slowly sinking. In India’s megacities, 80M+ people face this reality. New satellite radar research by @nitheshnirmal.bsky.social reveals where the ground is shifting most unevenly. 🌍🏠 #LandSubsidence www.nature.com/articles/s41... @shirzaei.bsky.social @vtgeosciences.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Please join me to welcome Ola to the HIRS & EOI labs. He started his PhD studies this semester at the Dept. of Geosciences at Virginia Tech and will be investigating groundwater-induced land subsidence in Virginia's near-coastal areas #InSAR #science @shirzaei.bsky.social @vtgeosciences.bsky.social
October 22, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Welcome Sushrita to the HIRS lab, where she started his PhD studies this semester at the Dept. of Geosciences at Virginia Tech. Her focus will be terrestrial water storage changes in cold regions.
#GRACE #DynamicPlanet #science @vtgeosciences.bsky.social
October 22, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Dr. Susanna Werth @ HIRS
I’m thrilled to share the launch episode of PEAS Talk — where we spill the science on #Planetary, #Earth, and #Atmospheric #Sciences. You can listen on any of your favorite platforms

#PEASTalkMoment #SciencePodcast #SciComm #PlanetaryScience #EarthScience #AtmosphericScience
October 4, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Reposted by Dr. Susanna Werth @ HIRS
On September 12th, I successfully passed my preliminary exams and officially advanced to #PhD candidacy. As part of the process, I proposed my dissertation: "Integration of Remote Sensing Data and #Models for Prediction of #Groundwater Response to Anthropogenic #Drought".
September 29, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Not just warming but also changes in precipitation may contribute to glacial melting in the Himalayas. See more at attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff...
@utah.edu #GraceFO
High Mountain Asia’s shrinking glaciers linked to monsoon changes - @theU
Shifting precipitation patterns, driven by climate change, could reshape water security and environmental hazards for one of world’s most populated regions, research shows.
attheu.utah.edu
September 4, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Congratulations to VT alumni & U. of Utah Prof. Sonam Sherpa on this important work, published last week in IEEE JSTARS, on the influence of changes in precipitation dynamics in the Himalayas on glacier melting. Read the publication at ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/doc... @vtgeosciences.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Dr. Susanna Werth @ HIRS
**** Media Coverage ****
I had the opportunity of being on national TV, @cbsnews.com , yesterday discussing our recent publication on the #US #sinking #cities.
Pub: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
CBS news piece: youtu.be/hXznyppIwz0
May 10, 2025 at 6:59 PM
A new Nature Cities study led by Leonard Ohenhen, PhD, reveals how groundwater extraction contributes to land subsidence in several major U.S. cities. At HIRS Lab, we were proud to support this research with our expertise in groundwater analysis.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Land subsidence risk to infrastructure in US metropolises - Nature Cities
Ohenhen et al. used space geodetic measurements to rigorously quantify land subsidence in the 28 most populous US cities. They find that over 20% of the area in each city is sinking, affecting approxi...
www.nature.com
May 10, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Congratulations, Nitheshnirmal Sadhadivam, for being awarded the William A. Fischer Scholarship of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) Foundation! @shirzaei.bsky.social
January 22, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Thanks for an excellent session at #AGU2024 about innovative technologies for satellite gravimetry, led by KGF, AP and others.
December 10, 2024 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Dr. Susanna Werth @ HIRS
*** AGU24-Day1 ***
Welcome all to #AGU24 of @theAGU!
Members of @EOI_lab and @HIRSlab of @vtgeosciences and friends kick off meeting with 6 exciting presentations on some of the most pressing issues of our time.
Please consider attending them.
December 9, 2024 at 4:44 AM
We are looking for a PhD students to join the HIRS lab at Virginia Tech! Are you excited about improving monitoring of (ground) water resources with innovative remote sensing technologies in extreme environments? If yes, consider applying ! @shirzaei.bsky.social
sites.google.com/vt.edu/hirs/...
November 28, 2024 at 4:24 AM
I was interviewed on this study by NASA's press office and provided some comments. The study is very thorough and interesting, recommend reading. Global decline of TWS happens even since many decades (see Fig. 5 of the study), in addition to the abrupt decline of ~2015.
NASA Satellites Reveal Abrupt Drop in Global Freshwater Levels - NASA Science
Earth’s total amount of freshwater dropped abruptly starting in May 2014 and has remained low ever since.
science.nasa.gov
November 26, 2024 at 6:09 AM