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Groundwater Storage Changes: Present Status from GRACE Observations

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Remote Sensing and Water Resources

Part of the book series: Space Sciences Series of ISSI ((SSSI,volume 55))

Abstract

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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Space Research, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, TX, 78759, USA

    Jianli Chen

  2. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA

    James S. Famigliett

  3. Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

    James S. Famigliett

  4. Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, TX, 78759, USA

    Bridget R. Scanlon

  5. Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771, USA

    Matthew Rodell

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  1. Jianli Chen
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  2. James S. Famigliett
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  3. Bridget R. Scanlon
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  4. Matthew Rodell
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Correspondence to Jianli Chen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland

    A. Cazenave

  2. International Space Science Institute, Bern, Switzerland

    N. Champollion

  3. European Space Research Institute, European Space Agency, Frascati, Italy

    J. Benveniste

  4. Center for Space Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    J. Chen

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Chen, J., Famigliett, J.S., Scanlon, B.R., Rodell, M. (2016). Groundwater Storage Changes: Present Status from GRACE Observations. In: Cazenave, A., Champollion, N., Benveniste, J., Chen, J. (eds) Remote Sensing and Water Resources. Space Sciences Series of ISSI, vol 55. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32449-4_9

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