Groundwater depletion in the Middle East from GRACE with implications for transboundary water management in the Tigris-Euphrates-Western Iran region
K. Voss,K. Voss,James S. Famiglietti,Min-Hui Lo,Min-Hui Lo,Caroline de Linage,Matthew Rodell,Sean Swenson +7 more
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TLDR
Observations from the GRACE satellite mission are used to evaluate freshwater storage trends in the north-central Middle East, including portions of the Tigris and Euphrates River Basins and western Iran, from January 2003 to December 2009 to indicate that groundwater losses are the major source of this trend.Abstract:
In this study, we use observations from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission to evaluate freshwater storage trends in the north-central Middle East, including portions of the Tigris and Euphrates River Basins and western Iran, from January 2003 to December 2009. GRACE data show an alarming rate of decrease in total water storage of approximately -27.2 plus or minus 0.6 millimeters per year equivalent water height, equal to a volume of 143.6 cubic kimometers during the course of the study period. Additional remote-sensing information and output from land surface models were used to identify that groundwater losses are the major source of this trend. The approach used in this study provides an example of ''best current capabilities'' in regions like the Middle East, where data access can be severely limited. Results indicate that the region lost 17.3 plus or minus 2.1 millimeters per year equivalent water height of groundwater during the study period, or 91.3 plus or minus 10.9 cubic kilometers in volume. Furthermore, results raise important issues regarding water use in transboundary river basins and aquifers, including the necessity of international water use treaties and resolving discrepancies in international water law, while amplifying the need for increased monitoring for core components of the water budget.read more
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Global analysis of spatiotemporal variability in merged total water storage changes using multiple GRACE products and global hydrological models
Di Long,Yun Pan,Jian Zhou,Yang Chen,Xueyan Hou,Yang Hong,Bridget R. Scanlon,Laurent Longuevergne +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the three cornered hat method is used to quantify uncertainties in total water storage (TWS) changes from GRACE observations, land surface models, and global hydrological models, indicating that the WaterGap Global Hydrological Model (WGHM)-based TWS changes show the lowest uncertainty over sixty basins covering a range of climate settings and levels of human activities globally.
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Have GRACE satellites overestimated groundwater depletion in the Northwest India Aquifer
Di Long,Xi Chen,Bridget R. Scanlon,Yoshihide Wada,Yang Hong,Yang Hong,Vijay P. Singh,Yaning Chen,Cunguang Wang,Zhongying Han,Wenting Yang +10 more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Estimating the human contribution to groundwater depletion in the Middle East, from GRACE data, land surface models, and well observations
TL;DR: In this paper, data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission are used to estimate monthly changes in total water storage across the Middle East during February 2003 to December 2012.
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