Effects of calibrated current speeds and groundwater scheme in a global river-flow model on river discharge and terrestrial water storage

Abstract In earth system models, the partitioning of precipitation among the variations of continental water storage, evapotranspiration, and freshwater runoff to the ocean has a major influence on the terrestrial water and energy budgets and thereby on simulated climate on a wide range of scales. The evaluation of continental hydrology is therefore a crucial task that requires offline simulations driven by realistic atmospheric forcing to avoid the systematic biases commonly found in global atmospheric models. Generally, this evaluation is done mainly by comparison with in situ river discharge data, which does not guarantee that the spatiotemporal distribution of water storage and evapotranspiration is correctly simulated. In this context, the Interactions between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere–Total Runoff Integrating Pathways (ISBA-TRIP) continental hydrological system of the Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques is evaluated by using the additional constraint of terrestrial water storage (TWS) variations derived from three independent gravity field retrievals (datasets) from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). On the one hand, the results show that, in general, ISBA-TRIP captures the seasonal and the interannual variability in both TWS and discharges. GRACE provides an additional constraint on the simulated hydrology and consolidates the former evaluation only based on river discharge observations. On the other hand, results indicate that river storage variations represent a significant contribution to GRACE measurements. While this remark highlights the need to improve the TRIP river routing model for a more useful comparison with GRACE [Decharme et al. (Part II of the present study)], it also suggests that low-resolution gravimetry products do not necessarily represent a strong additional constraint for model evaluation, especially in downstream areas of large river basins where long-term discharge data are available.

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Evolution of low flows regulation and terrestrial water storage in the Magdalena river basin: Implications for the assessment and monitoring of potential water scarcity in river basins

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13396 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Juan F. Salazar ◽

Silvana Bolaños ◽

Estiven Rodríguez ◽

Teresita Betancur ◽

Juan Camilo Villegas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

River Flow ◽

Water Storage ◽

River Basins ◽

Terrestrial Water Storage ◽

Social Phenomena ◽

Low Flows ◽

Terrestrial Water ◽

Magdalena River

<p>Many natural and social phenomena depend on the regulation of river flow regimes. Regulation is defined here as the capacity of river basins to attenuate extreme flows, which includes the capacity to enhance low flows during dry periods of time. This capacity depends on how basins store and release water through time, which in turn depends on manifold processes that can be highly dynamic and sensitive to global change. Here we focus on the Magdalena river basin in northwestern South America, which is critical for water and energy security in Colombia, and has experienced water scarcity problems in the past, including the collapse of the national hydropower system due to El Ni&#241;o 1991-1992. In this basin we study the evolution of regulation and related processes from two perspectives. First, we present a widely applicable conceptual framework that is based on the scaling theory and allows assessing the evolution of regulation in river basins, and use this framework to show how the Magdalena basin&#8217;s regulation capacity has been changing in recent decades. Second, we use data from the GRACE mission to investigate variations in water storage in the basin, and identify recent decreasing trends in both terrestrial water storage and groundwater storage. Further we show that temporal and spatial patterns of water storage depletion are likely related to the occurrence of ENSO extremes and pronounced differences between the lower and higher parts of the basin, including the presence of major wetland systems in the low lands and Andean mountains in the high lands. Our results provide insights on how to assess and monitor regulation in river basins, as well as on how this regulation relates to the dynamics of low flows and water storage, and therefore to potential water scarcity problems.</p>

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Study on the Variation of Terrestrial Water Storage and the Identification of Its Relationship with Hydrological Cycle Factors in the Tarim River Basin, China

Advances in Meteorology ◽

10.1155/2017/5086854 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Peng Yang ◽

Jun Xia ◽

Chesheng Zhan ◽

Yongyong Zhang ◽

Jie Chen

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

River Discharge ◽

Water Storage ◽

Tarim River ◽

Tarim River Basin ◽

Terrestrial Water Storage ◽

Water Deficits ◽

The Tarim River ◽

Terrestrial Water ◽

The Tarim River Basin

The terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSAs) in the Tarim River Basin (TRB) were investigated and the related factors of water variations in the mountain areas were analyzed based on Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data, in situ river discharge, and precipitation during the period of 2002–2015. The results showed that three obvious flood events in 2005, 2006, and 2010 resulted in significant water surplus, although TWSA decreased in the TRB during 2002–2015. However, while the significant water deficits in 2004, 2009, and 2011 were associated with obvious negative river discharge anomalies at the hydrological stations, the significant water deficits were not well consistent with the negative anomalies of precipitation. While the river discharge behaved with low correlations with TWSA, linear relationships between TWSA and climate indices were insignificant in the TRB from 2002 to 2015. The closest relationship was found between TWSA and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), with correlations of -0.56 and 0.58 during January 2010–December 2015 and during January 2006–December 2009, respectively. Meanwhile, the correlation coefficient between TWSA and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index in the period of April 2002–December 2005 was -0.25, which reached the significant level (p<0.05).

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Synergy between satellite observations of soil moisture and water storage anomalies for global runoff estimation

10.5194/gmd-2020-399 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Stefania Camici ◽

Gabriele Giuliani ◽

Luca Brocca ◽

Christian Massari ◽

Angelica Tarpanelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Mississippi River ◽

River Discharge ◽

High Performance ◽

European Space Agency ◽

Water Storage ◽

Satellite Observations ◽

Added Value ◽

Terrestrial Water Storage ◽

Terrestrial Water

Abstract. This paper presents an innovative approach, STREAM – SaTellite based Runoff Evaluation And Mapping – to derive daily river discharge and runoff estimates from satellite soil moisture, precipitation and terrestrial water storage anomalies observations. Within a very simple model structure, the first two variables (precipitation and soil moisture) are used to estimate the quick-flow river discharge component while the terrestrial water storage anomalies are used for obtaining its complementary part, i.e., the slow-flow river discharge component. The two are then summed up to obtain river discharge and runoff estimates. The method is tested over the Mississippi river basin for the period 2003–2016 by using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) rainfall data, European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative (ESA CCI) soil moisture data and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) terrestrial water storage data. Despite the model simplicity, relatively high-performance scores are obtained in river discharge simulations, with a Kling-Gupta efficiency index greater than 0.65 both at the outlet and over several inner stations used for model calibration highlighting the high information content of satellite observations on surface processes. Potentially useful for multiple operational and scientific applications (from flood warning systems to the understanding of water cycle), the added-value of the STREAM approach is twofold: 1) a simple modelling framework, potentially suitable for global runoff monitoring, at daily time scale when forced with satellite observations only, 2) increased knowledge on the natural processes, human activities and on their interactions on the land.

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Assimilation of GRACE Terrestrial Water Storage Data into a Land Surface Model: Results for the Mississippi River Basin

Journal of Hydrometeorology ◽

10.1175/2007jhm951.1 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 535-548 ◽

Cited By ~ 242

Author(s):

Benjamin F. Zaitchik ◽

Matthew Rodell ◽

Rolf H. Reichle

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Mississippi River ◽

Land Surface ◽

River Flow ◽

Water Storage ◽

Land Surface Model ◽

Surface Model ◽

Mississippi River Basin ◽

Terrestrial Water Storage ◽

Terrestrial Water

Abstract Assimilation of data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) system of satellites yielded improved simulation of water storage and fluxes in the Mississippi River basin, as evaluated against independent measurements. The authors assimilated GRACE-derived monthly terrestrial water storage (TWS) anomalies for each of the four major subbasins of the Mississippi into the Catchment Land Surface Model (CLSM) using an ensemble Kalman smoother from January 2003 to May 2006. Compared with the open-loop CLSM simulation, assimilation estimates of groundwater variability exhibited enhanced skill with respect to measured groundwater in all four subbasins. Assimilation also significantly increased the correlation between simulated TWS and gauged river flow for all four subbasins and for the Mississippi River itself. In addition, model performance was evaluated for eight smaller watersheds within the Mississippi basin, all of which are smaller than the scale of GRACE observations. In seven of eight cases, GRACE assimilation led to increased correlation between TWS estimates and gauged river flow, indicating that data assimilation has considerable potential to downscale GRACE data for hydrological applications.

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A time series assessment of terrestrial water storage and its relationship with hydro-meteorological factors in Gilgit-Baltistan region using GRACE observation and GLDAS-Noah model

SN Applied Sciences ◽

10.1007/s42452-021-04525-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Dostdar Hussain ◽

Aftab Ahmed Khan ◽

Syed Najam Ul Hassan ◽

Syed Ali Asad Naqvi ◽

Akhtar Jamil

Keyword(s):

Snow Water Equivalent ◽

Gravity Data ◽

Water Storage ◽

Indus Basin ◽

Flood Hazards ◽

Terrestrial Water Storage ◽

Satellite Gravity ◽

Terrestrial Water ◽

Gilgit Baltistan

AbstractMountains regions like Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) province of Pakistan are solely dependent on seasonal snow and glacier melt. In Indus basin which forms in GB, there is a need to manage water in a sustainable way for the livelihood and economic activities of the downstream population. It is important to monitor water resources that include glaciers, snow-covered area, lakes, etc., besides traditional hydrological (point-based measurements by using the gauging station) and remote sensing-based studies (traditional satellite-based observations provide terrestrial water storage (TWS) change within few centimeters from the earth’s surface); the TWS anomalies (TWSA) for the GB region are not investigated. In this study, the TWSA in GB region is considered for the period of 13 years (from January 2003 to December 2016). Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) level 2 monthly data from three processing centers, namely Centre for Space Research (CSR), German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ), and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), System Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS)-driven Noah model, and in situ precipitation data from weather stations, were used for the study investigation. GRACE can help to forecast the possible trends of increasing or decreasing TWS with high accuracy as compared to the past studies, which do not use satellite gravity data. Our results indicate that TWS shows a decreasing trend estimated by GRACE (CSR, GFZ, and JPL) and GLDAS-Noah model, but the trend is not significant statistically. The annual amplitude of GLDAS-Noah is greater than GRACE signal. Mean monthly analysis of TWSA indicates that TWS reaches its maximum in April, while it reaches its minimum in October. Furthermore, Spearman’s rank correlation is determined between GRACE estimated TWS with precipitation, soil moisture (SM) and snow water equivalent (SWE). We also assess the factors, SM and SWE which are the most efficient parameters producing GRACE TWS signal in the study area. In future, our results with the support of more in situ data can be helpful for conservation of natural resources and to manage flood hazards, droughts, and water distribution for the mountain regions.

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Opportunities for Gravity and GNSS Surveying to Monitor Changes in the Terrestrial Water Storage in the Congo River Basin

Remote Sensing in Earth Systems Sciences ◽

10.1007/s41976-021-00049-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Donghwan Kim

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Water Storage ◽

Terrestrial Water Storage ◽

Congo River ◽

Congo River Basin ◽

Terrestrial Water

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Evaluation of hydrological and cryospheric angular momentum estimates based on GRACE, GRACE-FO and SLR data for their contributions to polar motion excitation

Earth Planets and Space ◽

10.1186/s40623-021-01393-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 73 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Justyna Śliwińska ◽

Jolanta Nastula ◽

Małgorzata Wińska

Keyword(s):

Angular Momentum ◽

Spherical Harmonic ◽

Polar Motion ◽

Spectral Band ◽

Water Storage ◽

Terrestrial Water Storage ◽

Terrestrial Water ◽

High Consistency ◽

Polar Motion Excitation

AbstractIn geodesy, a key application of data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO), and Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) is an interpretation of changes in polar motion excitation due to variations in the Earth’s surficial fluids, especially in the continental water, snow, and ice. Such impacts are usually examined by computing hydrological and cryospheric polar motion excitation (hydrological and cryospheric angular momentum, HAM/CAM). Three types of GRACE and GRACE-FO data can be used to determine HAM/CAM, namely degree-2 order-1 spherical harmonic coefficients of geopotential, gridded terrestrial water storage anomalies computed from spherical harmonic coefficients, and terrestrial water storage anomalies obtained from mascon solutions. This study compares HAM/CAM computed from these three kinds of gravimetric data. A comparison of GRACE-based excitation series with HAM/CAM obtained from SLR is also provided. A validation of different HAM/CAM estimates is conducted here using the so-called geodetic residual time series (GAO), which describes the hydrological and cryospheric signal in the observed polar motion excitation. Our analysis of GRACE mission data indicates that the use of mascon solutions provides higher consistency between HAM/CAM and GAO than the use of other datasets, especially in the seasonal spectral band. These conclusions are confirmed by the results obtained for data from first 2 years of GRACE-FO. Overall, after 2 years from the start of GRACE-FO, the high consistency between HAM/CAM and GAO that was achieved during the best GRACE period has not yet been repeated. However, it should be remembered that with the systematic appearance of subsequent GRACE-FO observations, this quality can be expected to increase. SLR data can be used for determination of HAM/CAM to fill the one-year-long data gap between the end of GRACE and the start of the GRACE-FO mission. In addition, SLR series could be particularly useful in determination of HAM/CAM in the non-seasonal spectral band. Despite its low seasonal amplitudes, SLR-based HAM/CAM provides high phase consistency with GAO for annual and semiannual oscillation.

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