Satellite based estimates of terrestrial water storage variations in Turkey

In recent years, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has provided a new tool to study terrestrial water storage variations (TWS) at medium and large spatial scales, providing quantitative measures of TWS change. Linear trends in TWS variations in Turkey were estimated using GRACE observations for the period March 2003 to March 2009. GRACE showed a significant decrease in TWS in the southern part of the central Anatolian region up to a rate of 4 cm/year. The Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) model also captured this TWS decrease event but with underestimated trend values. The GLDAS model represents only a part of the total TWS variations, the sum of soil moisture (2 m column depth) and snow water equivalent, ignoring groundwater variations. Therefore, GLDAS model derived TWS variations were subtracted from GRACE derived TWS variations to estimate groundwater storage variations. Results revealed that decreasing trends of TWS observed by GRACE in the southern part of central Anatolia were largely explained by the decreasing trends of groundwater variations which were confirmed by the limited available well groundwater level data in the region.     

应用GPS数据和Slepian基函数反演川云渝地区陆地水储量变化

局部Slepian函数是将局部区域内的地球物理信号转化为空间谱的一种方法,其可以保证在球面上局部范围内获得最优谱平滑解,非常适用于局部范围地球物理信号的研究.本文利用中国陆态网西南地区72个测站的连续GPS观测资料分析川云渝地区陆地水负荷形变特征,并基于Slepian函数方法解算60阶的空间谱基函数,结合弹性质量负荷理论研究了川云渝地区2011年至2015年陆地水储量变化的时空分布模式.针对Slepian函数的边界效应问题,本文使用GLDAS格网数据计算得到站点处垂直负荷位移时间序列,然后利用该位移数据来进行水储量变化恢复实验,结果表明当边界扩充为3°时能较好地恢复GLDAS模型输出的陆地水储量变化.通过对比区域内GPS、GRACE、GLDAS得到的等效水高以及降雨数据,发现季节性降水是陆地水变化的一个重要驱动因子,GPS反演结果与GRACE和GLDAS数据具有较强的空间一致性.云南地区周年变化要强于川渝地区,其中云南西部的山区陆地水变化最大,约为30 cm,最小为川北以及重庆地区仅为7 cm.相较于GPS反演结果,GRACE与GLDAS明显低估了陆地水储量的季节性变化,分别达到24%和47%.比较分析地区内平均等效水高时间序列的相位发现,GPS得到的陆地水变化与降雨数据一致性较好,而GRACE与GLDAS存在一到两个月左右的时延.同时GPS能较好的探测出2015年1月左右南方地区大范围的强降水,而GRACE与GLDAS并没有体现出该现象,说明GPS能更为灵敏地探测到局部地区陆地水的变化.在站点等效水高时间序列上,GPS与GRACE的相关性总体上要优于GPS与GLDAS,陆地水周年变化较大的云南和四川西部地区站点三种数据间相关性较好,而其他季节性信号不明显的地区则相关性较差.本文的研究表明运用GPS-Slepian方法能够独立地监测高时空分辨率的陆地水储量变化,是作为当前补充GRACE观测资料空缺期的有益尝试.     

Analysis of satellite‐based and in situ hydro‐climatic data depicts water storage depletion in North China Region

Water storage depletion is an increasing hydrological threat to agricultural production and social stability across the globe. It is fast approaching threshold levels especially in arid/semiarid regions with low precipitation and excessive evapotranspiration (ET). This study analyses water storage dynamics in the North China Region (NCR) – an important grain‐production base in China. It uses monthly Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) and field‐measured precipitation data products for 2002–2009. The datasets are analysed in a basin‐scale water balance equation to determine the state of storage in the NCR study area. Based on the validated satellite‐based data products with field‐measured values, average error/bias in the datasets is <10%. The analysis also shows favourable agreements among the GRACE‐derived and flux‐based storage changes at various temporal scales. Whereas the amplitudes and phases of the precipitation and ET fluxes are largely stable for 2002–2009, those of GLDAS runoff and GRACE total water storage anomaly apparently narrow out. The linear trends in the monthly, seasonal and annual storage changes are negative for the study period, suggesting storage loss. There is an apparent seasonality of storage change in the study area; with summer storage gain, winter storage loss and an overall storage loss that is on the average of 16.8 mm/yr. Storage loss is most severe in the central floodplain region (the main irrigated production zone) of the study area. Storage depletion in this important agro‐based semi‐arid region could have negative implications for the millions of people in the region and beyond in terms of water supply, crop production, food security and social stability. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wavelet and Gaussian Approaches for Estimation of Groundwater Variations Using GRACE Data

In this study, a scheme is presented to estimate groundwater storage variations in Iran. The variations are estimated using 11 years of Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiments (GRACE) observations from period of 2003 to April 2014 in combination with the outputs of Global Land Data Assimilation Systems (GLDAS) model including soil moisture, snow water equivalent, and total canopy water storage. To do so, the sums of GLDAS outputs are subtracted from terrestrial water storage variations determined by GRACE observations. Because of stripping errors in the GRACE data, two methodologies based on wavelet analysis and Gaussian filtering are applied to refine the GRACE data. It is shown that the wavelet approach could better localize the desired signal and increase the signal‐to‐noise ratio and thus results in more accurate estimation of groundwater storage variations. To validate the results of our procedure in estimation of ground water storage variations, they are compared with the measurements of pisometric wells data near the Urmia Lake which shows favorable agreements with our results.     

基于Forward-Modeling方法的黑河流域水储量变化特征研究

黑河流域陆地水储量变化对流域下游等周边区域水资源的合理利用以及经济和社会发展等有着重要的意义.本文利用2003年1月至2013年12月的GRACE RL05数据反演了黑河流域陆地水储量长时间序列的变化,并针对重力场模型和数据处理中产生的信号泄漏问题,采用Forward-Modeling方法进行了改正并恢复泄漏信号;将GRACE获得的泄漏信号恢复前后的黑河流域水储量变化结果与全球水文模型GLDAS和CPC进行比较分析,结果表明泄漏信号改正后的结果与水文模型结果的时间序列相关性均有明显提高,从其空间分布结果可以看出Forward-Modeling方法有效地恢复初始信号、增强被湮没的信号,泄漏信号误差减小;通过分析黑河流域水储量变化的长时间序列结果,发现其具有明显的阶段性变化特征,即2003—2006年呈明显下降趋势,约为-0.86cm·a-1,在2007—2010年趋于平衡状态,而2011—2013年则呈现缓慢上升趋势约为0.14cm·a-1;联合GRACE数据和GLDAS数据反演了黑河流域地下水储量变化,并与全球降雨数据GPCC进行了比较分析,两者相关性可达到0.88以上.     

基于随机森林模型的GRACE数据3种空间降尺度对比

陆地水储量是赋存在陆地上各种形式水的综合体现,研究其时空变化对认识区域水循环过程和水资源调控等具有重要意义。然而现有陆地水储量变化数据实际分辨率较低,限制了其在中小流域或地区中的应用。针对这一问题,本文基于GRACE重力卫星和其后续卫星GRACE-FO反演的陆地水储量变化数据,首先采用随机森林模型,分别基于格点、区域(流域)和区域(全国)3种空间降尺度思路将GRACE数据降尺度至0.25°×0.25°,后结合GLDAS模型数据,基于水量平衡原理计算得到地下水储量变化数据,最后基于降尺度模型模拟效果和实测地下水位数据评估3种降尺度思路在全国的适用性。结果表明:随机森林模型能够较好地模拟驱动数据(降水、气温、植被条件指数和土壤水储量)与GRACE数据的统计关系,验证期格点降尺度思路的平均相关系数总体在0.6左右,区域降尺度思路的平均纳什效率系数、相关系数和均方根误差分别>0.5、>0.75和<6.6 cm,3种空间降尺度思路的模拟精度均满足基本要求;2003—2021年间,GRACE数据、格点降尺度、区域降尺度(流域)和区域降尺度(全国)得到的我国陆地水储量亏缺量分别约为119.5×10⁸、62.4×10⁸、121.1×10⁸和121.8×10⁸ m³/a,地下水储量亏缺量分别约为230.0×10⁸、171.8×10⁸、235.6×10⁸和236.4×10⁸ m³/a,受制于样本数较少等原因,格点降尺度结果精度较差;两种区域降尺度思路得到的水储量变化速率均和原始GRACE数据基本一致,模拟结果均优于格点降尺度,且细化到流域的区域降尺度对地下水储量变化验证精度有一定的改善。区域降尺度具有适用性强、模拟精度高、计算效率高的优势,研究结果可为流域水资源可持续利用以及水资源规划等提供精细化的水储量变化数据。     

Assessing Groundwater Depletion and Dynamics Using GRACE and InSAR: Potential and Limitations

In the last decade, remote sensing of the temporal variation of ground level and gravity has improved our understanding of groundwater dynamics and storage. Mass changes are measured by GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites, whereas ground deformation is measured by processing synthetic aperture radar satellites data using the InSAR (Interferometry of Synthetic Aperture Radar) techniques. Both methods are complementary and offer different sensitivities to aquifer system processes. GRACE is sensitive to mass changes over large spatial scales (more than 100,000 km²). As such, it fails in providing groundwater storage change estimates at local or regional scales relevant to most aquifer systems, and at which most groundwater management schemes are applied. However, InSAR measures ground displacement due to aquifer response to fluid‐pressure changes. InSAR applications to groundwater depletion assessments are limited to aquifer systems susceptible to measurable deformation. Furthermore, the inversion of InSAR‐derived displacement maps into volume of depleted groundwater storage (both reversible and largely irreversible) is confounded by vertical and horizontal variability of sediment compressibility. During the last decade, both techniques have shown increasing interest in the scientific community to complement available in situ observations where they are insufficient. In this review, we present the theoretical and conceptual bases of each method, and present idealized scenarios to highlight the potential benefits and challenges of combining these techniques to remotely assess groundwater storage changes and other aspects of the dynamics of aquifer systems.     

卫星重力捕捉龙滩水库储水量变化

利用近7年的Gravity Recovery and climate Experiment(GRACE)重力卫星资料,采用改进的滑动窗去相关滤波和扇形滤波技术计算了红水河上游区域的重力变化,结果显示红水河上游区域重力场有明显的上升趋势,利用Global Land Data Assimilation Systems(GL...     

Groundwater Storage Changes: Present Status from GRACE Observations

Satellite gravity measurements from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) provide quantitative measurement of terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes with unprecedented accuracy. Combining GRACE-observed TWS changes and independent estimates of water change in soil and snow and surface reservoirs offers a means for estimating groundwater storage change. Since its launch in March 2002, GRACE time-variable gravity data have been successfully used to quantify long-term groundwater storage changes in different regions over the world, including northwest India, the High Plains Aquifer and the Central Valley in the USA, the North China Plain, Middle East, and southern Murray–Darling Basin in Australia, where groundwater storage has been significantly depleted in recent years (or decades). It is difficult to rely on in situ groundwater measurements for accurate quantification of large, regional-scale groundwater storage changes, especially at long timescales due to inadequate spatial and temporal coverage of in situ data and uncertainties in storage coefficients. The now nearly 13 years of GRACE gravity data provide a successful and unique complementary tool for monitoring and measuring groundwater changes on a global and regional basis. Despite the successful applications of GRACE in studying global groundwater storage change, there are still some major challenges limiting the application and interpretation of GRACE data. In this paper, we present an overview of GRACE applications in groundwater studies and discuss if and how the main challenges to using GRACE data can be addressed.     

Impact of water withdrawals from groundwater and surface water on continental water storage variations

Humans have strongly impacted the global water cycle, not only water flows but also water storage. We have performed a first global-scale analysis of the impact of water withdrawals on water storage variations, using the global water resources and use model WaterGAP. This required estimation of fractions of total water withdrawals from groundwater, considering five water use sectors. According to our assessment, the source of 35% of the water withdrawn worldwide (4300 km³/year during 1998–2002) is groundwater. Groundwater contributes 42%, 36% and 27% of water used for irrigation, households and manufacturing, respectively, while we assume that only surface water is used for livestock and for cooling of thermal power plants. Consumptive water use was 1400 km³/year during 1998–2002. It is the sum of the net abstraction of 250 km³/year of groundwater (taking into account evapotranspiration and return flows of withdrawn surface water and groundwater) and the net abstraction of 1150 km³/year of surface water. Computed net abstractions indicate, for the first time at the global scale, where and when human water withdrawals decrease or increase groundwater or surface water storage. In regions with extensive surface water irrigation, such as Southern China, net abstractions from groundwater are negative, i.e. groundwater is recharged by irrigation. The opposite is true for areas dominated by groundwater irrigation, such as in the High Plains aquifer of the central USA, where net abstraction of surface water is negative because return flow of withdrawn groundwater recharges the surface water compartments. In intensively irrigated areas, the amplitude of seasonal total water storage variations is generally increased due to human water use; however, in some areas, it is decreased. For the High Plains aquifer and the whole Mississippi basin, modeled groundwater and total water storage variations were compared with estimates of groundwater storage variations based on groundwater table observations, and with estimates of total water storage variations from the GRACE satellites mission. Due to the difficulty in estimating area-averaged seasonal groundwater storage variations from point observations of groundwater levels, it is uncertain whether WaterGAP underestimates actual variations or not. We conclude that WaterGAP possibly overestimates water withdrawals in the High Plains aquifer where impact of human water use on water storage is readily discernible based on WaterGAP calculations and groundwater observations. No final conclusion can be drawn regarding the possibility of monitoring water withdrawals in the High Plains aquifer using GRACE. For the less intensively irrigated Mississippi basin, observed and modeled seasonal groundwater storage reveals a discernible impact of water withdrawals in the basin, but this is not the case for total water storage such that water withdrawals at the scale of the whole Mississippi basin cannot be monitored by GRACE.     

青藏高原GRACE卫星重力长期变化

本文采用最新的GRACE(Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment)(RL05)数据,通过水文模型(Global Land Data Assimilation System,GLDAS与Climate Prediction Center,CPC)扣除土壤水及雪水的影响,利用Paulson提供的冰川模型结果扣除GIA(Glacial Isostatic Adjustment)的影响,采用尺度因子的方法减少数据处理过程中误差的影响,最终基于最小二乘计算方法得到2003—2013中国及周边地区长期性重力异常变化情况.结果发现青藏高原有较为明显的重力上升信号,我们认为该信号可能由印度板块俯冲欧亚板块导致青藏高原地壳增厚所引起.接着依据GPS观测结果和艾黎均衡假说构建了地壳形变模型并通过直立长方体模型予以正演模拟分析.以班公湖—怒江断裂带为界将青藏高原划分为南北两大区块,结果显示青藏高原重力异常大致以0.2μGal·a-1的速率在递增,小于GRACE得到的0.3±0.08μGal·a-1的增长速率(对应于地壳增厚速率约3mm·a-1),剩余未解释部分可能与湖水、冰川因素、冻土因素等有关.该结果对于认识青藏高原隆升动力学有一定参考意义.     

Unique episodic groundwater recharge event in a South American sedimentary aquifer and its long-term impact on baseflow

The anomalous entrance of water into groundwater systems can affect storage throughout long periods and normally relies on infrequent and irregular pulses of groundwater recharge defined by the term episodic recharge. Recently there was a groundwater recharge of large magnitude with unknown circumstances in the Caiuá aquifer. This unique event was explored in detail here and allowed to better understand the occurrence of such events in humid subtropical climates in South America. For this study, groundwater monitoring daily data from the Integrated Groundwater Monitoring Network was used combined with a specific yield obtained from geophysical wireline logging to obtain groundwater recharge rates. To improve the investigation, we also used a baseflow separation method to obtain the groundwater contribution into local rivers. The groundwater storage variations were also assessed by remote sensing with the GRACE data. Results showed the importance of high soil moisture storage on the occurrence of large episodic recharge events. We estimated that the groundwater recharger volumes derived from 1 year that included the unique episodic recharge observed (total of 866 mm for April 2015–March 2016) were comparable with the sum of 7 years of groundwater recharge (total of 867 mm). Atypical rainfall in winter periods were responsible for the increase in soil moisture that explained that unique event. GRACE-based GWS showed concordance detecting the occurrence of the unique episodic recharge. However, the variation in terms of volumes obtained by GRACE does not represent the behaviour observed in the aquifer by the WTF method. The results also indicated that changes in aquifer storage caused by episodic recharge events directly affect low flows in rivers over long periods. The main knowledge gap addressed here relates to exploring a unique episodic recharge event quite rare to observe with its long-term impacts on hydroclimatic variability over a humid subtropical portion of the Caiuá aquifer.     

Water Storage Changes over the Tibetan Plateau Revealed by GRACE Mission

We use GRACE gravity data released by the Center for Space Research (CSR) and the Groupe de Recherches en Geodesie Spatiale (GRGS) to detect the water storage changes over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). A combined filter strategy is put forward to process CSR RL05 data to remove the effect of striping errors. After the correction for GRACE by GLDAS and ICE-5G, we find that TP has been overall experiencing the water storage increase during 2003–2012. During the same time, the glacier over the Himalayas was sharply retreating. Interms of linear trends, CSR’s results derived by the combined filter are close to GRGS RL03 with the Gaussian filter of 300-km window. The water storage increasing rates determined from CSR’s RL05 products in the interior TP, Karakoram Mountain, Qaidam Basin, Hengduan Mountain, and middle Himalayas are 9.7, 6.2, 9.1,–18.6, and–20.2 mm/yr, respectively. These rates from GRGS’s RL03 products are 8.6, 5.8, 10.5,–19.3 and–21.4 mm/yr, respectively.     

Assessment of terrestrial water contributions to polar motion from GRACE and hydrological models

The hydrological contribution to polar motion is a major challenge in explaining the observed geodetic residual of non-atmospheric and non-oceanic excitations since hydrological models have limited input of comprehensive global direct observations. Although global terrestrial water storage (TWS) estimated from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) provides a new opportunity to study the hydrological excitation of polar motion, the GRACE gridded data are subject to the post-processing de-striping algorithm, spatial gridded mapping and filter smoothing effects as well as aliasing errors. In this paper, the hydrological contributions to polar motion are investigated and evaluated at seasonal and intra-seasonal time scales using the recovered degree-2 harmonic coefficients from all GRACE spherical harmonic coefficients and hydrological models data with the same filter smoothing and recovering methods, including the Global Land Data Assimilation Systems (GLDAS) model, Climate Prediction Center (CPC) model, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis products and European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) operational model (opECMWF). It is shown that GRACE is better in explaining the geodetic residual of non-atmospheric and non-oceanic polar motion excitations at the annual period, while the models give worse estimates with a larger phase shift or amplitude bias. At the semi-annual period, the GRACE estimates are also generally closer to the geodetic residual, but with some biases in phase or amplitude due mainly to some aliasing errors at near semi-annual period from geophysical models. For periods less than 1-year, the hydrological models and GRACE are generally worse in explaining the intraseasonal polar motion excitations.     

Seasonal Water Storage Variations as Impacted by Water Abstractions: Comparing the Output of a Global Hydrological Model with GRACE and GPS Observations

Better quantification of continental water storage variations is expected to improve our understanding of water flows, including evapotranspiration, runoff and river discharge as well as human water abstractions. For the first time, total water storage (TWS) on the land area of the globe as computed by the global water model WaterGAP (Water Global Assessment and Prognosis) was compared to both gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) and global positioning system (GPS) observations. The GRACE satellites sense the effect of TWS on the dynamic gravity field of the Earth. GPS reference points are displaced due to crustal deformation caused by time-varying TWS. Unfortunately, the worldwide coverage of the GPS tracking network is irregular, while GRACE provides global coverage albeit with low spatial resolution. Detrended TWS time series were analyzed by determining scaling factors for mean annual amplitude (f _GRACE) and time series of monthly TWS (f _GPS). Both GRACE and GPS indicate that WaterGAP underestimates seasonal variations of TWS on most of the land area of the globe. In addition, seasonal maximum TWS occurs 1 month earlier according to WaterGAP than according to GRACE on most land areas. While WaterGAP TWS is sensitive to the applied climate input data, none of the two data sets result in a clearly better fit to the observations. Due to the low number of GPS sites, GPS observations are less useful for validating global hydrological models than GRACE observations, but they serve to support the validity of GRACE TWS as observational target for hydrological modeling. For unknown reasons, WaterGAP appears to fit better to GPS than to GRACE. Both GPS and GRACE data, however, are rather uncertain due to a number of reasons, in particular in dry regions. It is not possible to benefit from either GPS or GRACE observations to monitor and quantify human water abstractions if only detrended (seasonal) TWS variations are considered. Regarding GRACE, this is mainly caused by the attenuation of the TWS differences between water abstraction variants due to the filtering required for GRACE TWS. Regarding GPS, station density is too low. Only if water abstractions lead to long-term changes in TWS by depletion or restoration of water storage in groundwater or large surface water bodies, GRACE may be used to support the quantification of human water abstractions.     

基于GRACE的空间约束方法监测华北平原地下水储量变化

华北平原作为我国重要的工农业基地和政治经济中心,面临着严重的水资源危机.因此,开展对华北平原地下水储量变化的监测工作具有重要现实意义与科学价值.本文基于GRACE重力卫星的空间约束方法,研究了华北平原地下水储量变化的时空分布规律,并与地面水井实测与地下水模型结果进行了综合比较和分析.结果表明:2002-2014年,华北平原地下水存在明显的长期亏损,GRACE估计的亏损速率为-7.4±0.9 km~3·a~(-1),而地面水井资料估计的浅层地下水亏损速率为-1.2 km~3·a~1,对比两者之间的差异可以发现,华北平原的地下水亏损以深层地下水为主.2002-2008年,GRACE估计的华北平原地下水亏损速率为-5.3±2.2 km~3·a~(-1),这与华北平原两个地下水模型得到的平均亏损速率-5.4 km~3·a~(-1)十分吻合.通过华北平原区域地下水模型的独立验证,说明GRACE可以有效评估华北平原的地下水储量变化趋势.除了长期亏损的趋势项之外,华北平原地下水还存在明显的年际变化特征,并与该地区年降雨量变化特征一致.在降雨偏少的2002年、2005-2009年和2014年,华北平原地下水储量显著减少.在空间分布上,GRACE结果表明,华北平原的地下水储量减少主要发生在山前平原和中部平原区,这也与水井实测资料和区域地下水模型结果较为吻合.与GRACE和区域地下水模型相比,目前的全球水文模型仍无法准确估计华北平原地下水变化的空间分布和亏损速率.上述研究表明,GRACE提供了评估华北平原地下水储量变化的重要监测手段.     

GRACE估算陆地水储量季节和年际变化

利用最新公布的GRACE GFZ RL04数据,分析了2003年1月～2007年12月全球27条流域和陆地水储量的季节性和年际变化.结果表明,相近流域季节性变化相位接近.2003年1月～2007年12月陆地水储量季节性变化为1572.4 km3,其中变化最大流域为亚马逊河,其次分别为鄂毕河、尼罗河和尼日尔河等流域.5年来 GRACE陆地水储量的年际变化为-75.4±40.3 km3/a,其中亚马逊河、勒拿河和马更些河等流域的年际变化呈现正增长,而刚果河、密西西比河、恒河、育空河和雅鲁藏布江等流域则相反.GRACE与GLDAS数据均表明2006年后陆地水储量年际变化存在明显增加.     

Terrestrial Water Storage Anomalies Associated with Drought in Southwestern USA from GPS Observations

The Earth’s surface fluid mass redistribution, e.g., groundwater depletion and severe drought, causes the elastic surface deformation, which can be measured by global positioning system (GPS). In this paper, the continuous GPS observations are used to estimate the terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes in southwestern USA, which have a good agreement with TWS changes derived from Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) and hydrological models. The seasonal variation is mostly located in the Rocky mountain range and Mississippi river watershed. The largest amplitude of the seasonal variation is between 12 and 15 cm in equivalent water thickness. The timing and duration of TWS anomalies caused by the severe drought in 2012 are observed by the GPS-derived TWS, which are confirmed by the GRACE results. Different hydrological models are further used for comparison with GPS and GRACE results. The magnitude of TWS depletion from GRACE and GPS observations during the drought is larger than that from hydrological models, which indicates that the drought was caused by comparable groundwater and surface water depletion. The interannual TWS changes from GPS are also consistent with the precipitation pattern over the past 6 years, which further confirms the severe drought in 2012. This study demonstrates that continuous GPS observations have the potential as real-time drought indicator.     

Assessing Global Water Storage Variability from GRACE: Trends,Seasonal Cycle,Subseasonal Anomalies and Extremes

Throughout the past decade, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has given an unprecedented view on global variations in terrestrial water storage. While an increasing number of case studies have provided a rich overview on regional analyses, a global assessment on the dominant features of GRACE variability is still lacking. To address this, we survey key features of temporal variability in the GRACE record by decomposing gridded time series of monthly equivalent water height into linear trends, inter-annual, seasonal, and subseasonal (intra-annual) components. We provide an overview of the relative importance and spatial distribution of these components globally. A correlation analysis with precipitation and temperature reveals that both the inter-annual and subseasonal anomalies are tightly related to fluctuations in the atmospheric forcing. As a novelty, we show that for large regions of the world high-frequency anomalies in the monthly GRACE signal, which have been partly interpreted as noise, can be statistically reconstructed from daily precipitation once an adequate averaging filter is applied. This filter integrates the temporally decaying contribution of precipitation to the storage changes in any given month, including earlier precipitation. Finally, we also survey extreme dry anomalies in the GRACE record and relate them to documented drought events. This global assessment sets regional studies in a broader context and reveals phenomena that had not been documented so far.     

Evaluating Renewable Groundwater Stress with GRACE Data in Greece

Groundwater is a resilient water source and its importance is even greater in periods of drought. Areas such as the Mediterranean where adverse climate change effects are expected are bell‐weather locations for groundwater depletion and are of considerable interest. The present study evaluates renewable groundwater stress (RGS) as the ratio of groundwater use to groundwater availability, quantifying use as the trend in gravity recovery and climate experiment‐derived (GRACE) subsurface anomalies (ΔGW_trend) and renewable groundwater availability as mean annual recharge. Estimates for mean annual recharge for the various regions in Greece have been derived using numerical models. Our results highlight two RGS regimes in Greece (variable stress and unstressed) of the four characteristic stress regimes, that is, overstressed, variable stress, human‐dominated stress, and unstressed, defined as a function of the sign of use and the sign of groundwater availability (positive or negative). Variable stress areas are found in Central Greece (Thessaly region), where intensive agriculture results in negative ΔGW_trend values combined with positive mean annual recharge rates. RGS values range from ?0.05 to 0, indicating a low impact area. Within this region, adverse effects of groundwater overexploitation are already evident based on the negative GRACE anomalies; however, recharge is still positive, mitigating the effects of over‐pumping. The rest of Greek aquifers fall within the unstressed category, with RGS values from 0.02 to 0.05, indicating that the rate of use is less than the natural recharge rate.