Snowpack is an important factor affecting the global energy water cycle,such as radiation balance and water resources,while remote sensing is a key method to monitor the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of snowpack and its changing trend.Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) has become an important research means in snow remote sensing because of its all-day and all-weather observation capability.In this paper,the theory and technology of snow parameter inversion methods are summarized and analyzed from aspects of the characteristics of SAR and snowpack,snow scattering models,snow parameter inversion based on SAR intensity and phase information.And the current research states as well as the problematic issues in snow inversion using SAR data are pointed out,and the future research direction is discussed.