Launched 17 march 2002, t he gravity recovery and climate experiment grace twin satellites made detailed measurements of earths gravity field and improved investigations about earths water reservoirs, over land, ice and oceans. This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by byu scholarsarchive. As grace orbits, it provides data for scientists to construct a new map of earths gravity field every month. Geocenter degree 1 geoid estimates the spherical harmonic coefficients of degree 1 represent the distance between the center of mass of the earth and its center of figure, which in practice. News prolific earth gravity satellites end science mission. Groundwater storage changes derived from grace and gldas. Toward calibration of regional groundwater models using grace data alexander y. Groundwater and soil moisture conditions from grace data. Interpretation of grace data using a groundwater recharge model. Grace fo will provide global measurements on seasonal and interannual river basin water storage changes, human influences on regional water storage changes, largescale. Oceanographic applications of grace gravity data on global and regional scales no dataset referenced 2016. The researchers found that including the gracefo data made the resulting soil moisture and groundwater forecasts more accurate.
Geological survey usgs and nasa were used by designer richard vijgen as part of the winning entry in. Integrated study of grace data derived interannual. Jun 23, 2015 as valuable as graces groundwater data is, it has a crucial gap. Gracefo data global surface mass anomalies observed by the gracefo satellites for the month indicated on the map. Explore the use of satellite data on scales smaller than the. The applicability of the gravity recovery and climate experiment grace to adequately represent broadscale patterns of groundwater storage gws variations and observed trends in groundwatermonitoring well levels gwwl is examined in the canadian province of alberta. Interpretation of grace data using a groundwater recharge model h. Trends in global freshwater availability from the gravity recovery and climate experiment grace, v1 2002 2016global 3year running mean groundlevel no2 grids from gome, sciamachy and gome2, v1 1996 2012global annual pm2. Grace was a collaboration of the us and german space agencies nasa and dlr.
The key partners were the university of texas center for space research csr, the. Extremely sensitive instruments on grace can measure changes in the distance between the twin satellites to an accuracy of 1 micrometer onemillionth of a meter, which is 20 to 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Nasa, university of nebraska release new global groundwater. The ggis consists of several modules structured around various themes.
The gravity recovery and climate experiment followon gracefo is a continuation of the mission on nearidentical. Ground water studies using grace satellite data vedas. It was concluded in that grace data can increase the correlation between satellitebased observations and well groundwater data. In 2011 konikow published a journal article about longterm groundwater depletion and its contribution to sealevel rise 225kb pdf. How can i download grace data for eastern india and in which. Using grace satellite data and groundbased monitoring.
Grace has returned data on some of the worlds biggest aquifers and how their water storage is changing e. Groundwater serves more than 80% of agriculture and 60% of drinking water in india thus making it a demandable resource in the study area. Launched in 2002, nasas gravity recovery and climate experiment satellites were unique in their ability to measure variations in water stored at all levels above and within the land surface terrestrial water storage. Assessing groundwater storage changes in the nubian. Grace fo data global surface mass anomalies observed by the grace fo satellites for the month indicated on the map. Filtering the data is an important step in reducing measurement error, but it comes at the expense of signal modification. Groundwater and soil moisture conditions from grace data assimilation data. May 16, 2018 for 15 years, grace tracked freshwater movements around the world released on may 16, 2018 nasa scientists used grace data to identify regional trends of freshwater movement, and combined that information with data from other satellites, climate models and precipitation measurements to determine the causes of major regional trends in freshwater. With the passage of the sustainable groundwater management act sgma, there is an increased need for local and state agencies and the public to easily access water data in order to make informed management decisions.
This unit provides students with experience analyzing traditional depth to water table measured in a well and geodetic. 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. How can i use and download grace satellite images in order. As valuable as graces groundwater data is, it has a crucial gap. For 15 years, grace tracked freshwater movements around the world released on may 16, 2018 nasa scientists used grace data to identify regional trends of freshwater movement, and combined that information with data from other satellites, climate models and precipitation measurements to determine the causes of major regional trends in freshwater. Groundwater and soil moisture conditions from gracefo. Scientists at nasas goddard space flight center generate groundwater and soil moisture drought indicators each week. Each module has its own mapbased viewer with underlying database to allow storing and visualizing geospatial data in a systematic way.
Satellitederived groundwater storage estimates and. An opensource webapplication for regional analysis of. The scarcity of groundwater storage change data at the global scale hinders our ability to monitor groundwater resources effectively. The sgma data viewer provides access to groundwater related datasets that are organized by the requirements of sgma and the groundwater sustainability plan gsp regulations for the purpose of supporting gsp development and implementation view the twopage sgma data viewer fact sheet for more information about this application. However, the case of yemen also indicates that commonly accepted principles of water management must be adapted to harness the potential of grace based groundwater storage assessment. The gravity recovery and climate experiment grace refers to a pair of nasa satellites that has flown in lowearth orbit since 2002. Groundwater and soil moisture conditions from grace data assimilation l4 7days 0.
We have a long history of data collection, monitoring, and reporting. Global grace data assimilation for groundwater and drought. Oct 14, 2015 2015 fall cyberseminar series october 9, 2015 using grace satellite data and groundbased monitoring and modeling to assess drought impacts on water resources in the western u. Although the ngadda catchment has only one set of in situ time series data of groundwater from 2006 to 2009 and a limited number of groundwater measurements in 2005 and 2009, grace. The present study used grace, gldas and insitu measured groundwater data products. After more than 15 productive years in orbit, the u. Grace gravity recovery and climate experiment data for monitoring changes in groundwater storage in the high plains aquifer. To help bring awareness to the importance of earths groundwater, a new map showing the worlds groundwater supplies has been created in part from data acquired by the nasa german aerospace center and the climate experiment grace mission to highlight declines in the worlds groundwater supplies, a new visualization of earths groundwater reserves, created in part with space data. Usgs groundwater data go to times square visitors to times square in new york city are being treated to a different kind of display. Underground and out of sight, the public lacks a clear indicator of changing groundwater levels. The annual hydrology of the amazon basin provides an especially strong signal when viewed by grace.
Grace data itself has northsouth band noise, spherical harmonic coefficient noise and errors generated when eliminating highfrequency shortterm aliasing caused by tides and atmospheric conditions bhanja et al. Title page abstract introduction conclusions references tables figures j i j i back close full screen esc printerfriendly version interactive discussion 1 introduction water storage is a driver for economic growth, poverty reduction and a key compo. This set of data consists of spherical harmonics coefficients with specific degree and order. Have grace satellites overestimated groundwater depletion. Mcstraw, travis clinton, an opensource webapplication for regional analysis of grace groundwater data and engaging stakeholders in groundwater management 2020.
View and download maps displaying drought indicators for the contiguous united states from 2003 to the present, as well as the underlying data. Toward calibration of regional groundwater models using. Nasa satellite data help show where groundwater is and. Groundwater and soil moisture conditions from gracefo data assimilation for the contiguous u. Mac 2004 before grace it was very difficult to estimate how the total volume of groundwater is changing. Nasa researchers have developed new satellitebased, weekly global maps of soil moisture and groundwater wetness conditions and one to threemonth u. Since the product has just been rolled out, the user community is only just beginning to work with the forecasts, but wardlow sees a huge potential. The grace mission ended in 2017, but the data record is now being extended by the gracefo mission, which launched on may 22, 2018. German grace gravity recovery and climate experiment satellite mission has ended science operations.
Grace data have also provided insights into regional hydrology inaccessible to other forms of remote sensing. Nov 05, 2019 groundwater and soil moisture conditions from grace data assimilation l4 7days 0. Data from some of the continuous record stations are relayed to usgs offices nationwide through telephone lines or by satellite transmissions. Grace data itself has northsouth band noise, spherical harmonic coefficient noise and errors generated when eliminating highfrequency shortterm aliasing caused by tides and. However, due to the approximate nature of the correction schemes and the noise present in grace data, practically, the complete bandlimited signal cannot be retrieved.
A purely geodetic mdt estimate constructed in 2008 from the mean sea surface and mean geoid based on grace data, other space and insitu gravity data. While maps of current drywet conditions for the united states have been available since 2012, this is the first time they have been available globally. The satellites use a precise microwave ranging system to measure the distance between themselves due to gravitational acceleration. November 5, 2019 scientists at nasa goddard space flight center generate groundwater and soil moisture drought indicators each week. I want to estimate the groundwater in study area by using grace satellite images,how can. Oct 27, 2017 after more than 15 productive years in orbit, the u. In an operational remote sensing project carried out by the national remote sensing agency, india, this relationship between geomorphology and groundwater. The data illustrate the continuing loss of ice from the continent. Grace, twin satellites launched in march 2002, are making detailed measurements of earths gravity field which will lead to discoveries about gravity and earths natural systems. Jan 06, 2020 scientists like swenson download and analyze grace data from nasas physical oceanography distributed active archive center po. Application of grace to the estimation of groundwater. Variations across timescales are compared, from seasonal to interannual to decadal.
They are based on terrestrial water storage observations derived from grace fo satellite data and integrated with other observations, using a sophisticated numerical model of land surface water and energy processes. Data from some of the continuous record stations are relayed to usgs offices nationwide through telephone lines or by satellite transmissions providing access to current groundwater data. Groundwater levels are monitored by local sensors as well as from space with grace, but the data are formatted for expert hydrologists, rather than concerned citizens. The global groundwater information system ggis is an interactive, webbased portal to groundwaterrelated information and knowledge. Combining grace data with hydrologic modeling enables scientists and water managers to observe dynamic changes in groundwater over large regions or where well data are sparse. Hydrologic implications of grace satellite data in the. Challenges and opportunities in gracebased groundwater.
Groundwater level data are collected and stored as either discrete fieldwaterlevel measurements or as continuous timeseries data from automated recorders. The usgs annually monitors groundwater levels in thousands of wells in the united states. Grace followon monthly maps of terrestrial water storage and ocean bottom pressure changes level3 tellus grids are now available from june2018 through june2019. Groundwater and soil moisture conditions from gracefo data. Surface sampling techniques are too limited in accuracy and frequency to provide good estimates. In order to increase the resolution, eliminate the time lag, and isolate groundwater and other components from total terrestrial water storage, scientists at nasagsfc integrate the grace and grace fo data with other ground and spacebased meteorological observations precipitation, solar radiation, etc. Have grace satellites overestimated groundwater depletion in. The gravity recovery and climate experiment grace refers to a pair of nasa. A comparison study of gracebased groundwater modeling for datarich and datapoor regions alla skaskevych, candidate for the master of science degree university of missourikansas city, 2014 abstract gravity recovery and climate experiment grace modeling in water resources is an emerging field in hydrology. Gws variations are derived over alberta for the period 20022014 using the release 05 rl05 monthly. To use grace to constrain a subset of the vertical mass budget, e. During their mission, the twin grace satellites have provided unprecedented insights into how our planet is changing by tracking the continuous movement of liquid water, ice and the solid.
Application of grace to the estimation of groundwater storage. Oct 25, 2019 although the ngadda catchment has only one set of in situ time series data of groundwater from 2006 to 2009 and a limited number of groundwater measurements in 2005 and 2009, grace. Can be used for comparison and residual groundwater studies. Gravity recovery and climate experiment grace level two l2 data is used in estimating the groundwater storage changes gwsc in the nubian sandstone aquifer system nsas. Interpretation of grace data using a groundwater recharge. Gws variations are derived over alberta for the period 20022014 using the release 05 rl05 monthly grace gravity models.
The researchers found that including the grace fo data made the resulting soil moisture and groundwater forecasts more accurate. Without knowing when the aquifers will go dry, or when water tables will sink so low that they are effectively inaccessible, users and water managers are blind to the. Konikow assessed groundwater depletion and declining water levels from 1900 to 2008 in 45 areas around the world, including 41 aquifer. For 15 years, grace tracked freshwater movements around the world. Groundwater storage changes derived from grace and gldas on. However, the case of yemen also indicates that commonly accepted principles of water management must be adapted to harness the potential of gracebased groundwater storage assessment. Evaluating renewable groundwater stress with grace data in. Third of big groundwater basins in distress groundwater storage trends for earths 37 largest aquifers from uciled study using nasa grace data 2003 20. Scientists like swenson download and analyze grace data from nasas physical oceanography distributed active archive center po. Download monthly values for the world and then cut and smooth data to specific region grace tellus trip could be used for spain, but not for saudi arabia grace tellus could be. Trends in global freshwater availability from the gravity. Gw trend and renewable groundwater availability as mean annual recharge. Grace based ground water measurement in northwest india. Pool2, himanshu save3, di long4, jianli chen3, david m.
A comparison of groundwater storage using grace data. In this study the groundwater storage change was determined by using rl05 land data product january, 2003 to december, 2016 which was accessed from the gravity recovery and climate experiment grace satellite. The midnight sun casts a golden glow on an iceberg and its reflection in disko bay, greenland. The gravity recovery and climate experiment grace satellite provides a new method for terrestrial hydrology research, which can be used for improving the monitoring result of the spatial and temporal changes of water cycle at large scale quickly. Groundwater and soil moisture conditions from grace data assimilation view and download maps displaying drought indicators for the contiguous united states from 2003 to the present, as well as the underlying data. Grace satellite data are widely used to assess gws depletion doll et al. It was concluded in that grace data can increase the correlation between satellitebased observations and wellgroundwater data. Of these, 21 have exceeded sustainability tipping points and are being depleted, with considered significantly distressed, threatening regional water security and resilience. The above studies suggest that, for aquifers larger than 450000 km 2, the accuracy of grace based groundwater can reach 8. A recent application of grace to the crb indicated that tws declined by 365 km 3 from 2004 to 20 9 years. Conway6, and daniel winester7 1bureau of economic geology, jackson school of geosciences, university of texas at austin, austin, texas, usa. Monthly changes in antarctic ice mass, in gigatones, as measured by nasa s gravity recovery and climate experiment grace satellites from 2003 to 2011.
Mar 31, 2020 the researchers found that including the grace fo data made the resulting soil moisture and groundwater forecasts more accurate. Groundwater and soil moisture conditions from grace data assimilation view and download maps displaying drought indicators for the contiguous united states from. They are based on terrestrial water storage observations derived from gracefo satellite data and integrated with other observations, using a sophisticated numerical model of land surface water and energy processes. These discoveries could have farreaching benefits to society and the worlds population.
Gracefo will provide global measurements on seasonal and interannual river basin water storage changes, human influences on regional water storage changes, largescale. Global groundwater information system ggis international. The trends in global freshwater availability from the gravity recovery and climate experiment grace, 20022016, is a global gridded data set at a spatial resolution of 0. They are based on terrestrial water storage observations derived from grace satellite data and integrated with other observations, using a sophisticated numerical model of land surface water and energy processes. These data sets will be expanded with the most recent monthly data as it becomes available approx. How can i use and download grace satellite images in order to. Download specified monthly values for each basin trip 2. Evaluation of groundwater sustainability in the arid hexi. Grace has helped us understand the magnitude and the trends. Pdf what is the spatial resolution of grace satellite. The usgs data and information used in the times square display are from a study conducted by usgs scientist leonard konikow.
The gravity recovery and climate experiment grace was a joint mission of nasa and the german aerospace center dlr. Swenson calculated the groundwater levels by analyzing the grace data and using models to estimate and subtract soil moisture levels. Over land, red colors indicate belowaverage terrestrial water amounts, while blue colors show aboveaverage water amounts including ice, snow, soil moisture and groundwater. Evaluation of groundwater depletion in north china using the gravity recovery and climate experiment grace data and groundbased measurements. Twin satellites took detailed measurements of earths gravity field anomalies from its launch in march 2002 to the end of its science mission in october 2017. Groundwater and soil moisture conditions from grace data assimilation maps.