Quantifying Modern Recharge and Depletion Rates of the Nubian Aquifer in Egypt

Egypt is currently seeking additional freshwater resources to support national reclamation projects based mainly on the Nubian aquifer groundwater resources. In this study, temporal (April 2002 to June 2016) Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)-derived terrestrial water storage (TWSGRACE) along with other relevant datasets was used to monitor and quantify modern recharge and depletion rates of the Nubian aquifer in Egypt (NAE) and investigate the interaction of the NAE with artificial lakes. Results indicate: (1) the NAE is receiving a total recharge of 20.27 ± 1.95 km3 during 4/2002−2/2006 and 4/2008–6/2016 periods, (2) recharge events occur only under excessive precipitation conditions over the Nubian recharge domains and/or under a significant rise in Lake Nasser levels, (3) the NAE is witnessing a groundwater depletion of − 13.45 ± 0.82 km3/year during 3/2006–3/2008 period, (4) the observed groundwater depletion is largely related to exceptional drought conditions and/or normal baseflow recession, and (5) a conjunctive surface water and groundwater management plan needs to be adapted to develop sustainable water resources management in the NAE. Findings demonstrate the use of global monthly TWSGRACE solutions as a practical, informative, and cost-effective approach for monitoring aquifer systems across the globe.

[1]  Tod A. Laursen,et al.  Finite element tree crown hydrodynamics model (FETCH) using porous media flow within branching elements: A new representation of tree hydrodynamics , 2005 .

[2]  M. Watkins,et al.  Improved methods for observing Earth's time variable mass distribution with GRACE using spherical cap mascons , 2015 .

[3]  P. Chinnasamy,et al.  Understanding Groundwater Storage Changes and Recharge in Rajasthan, India through Remote Sensing , 2015 .

[4]  C. Vörösmarty,et al.  Global water resources: vulnerability from climate change and population growth. , 2000, Science.

[5]  Ben Breech,et al.  Transport of cross helicity and radial evolution of Alfvénicity in the solar wind , 2004 .

[6]  D. Higdon,et al.  Accelerating Markov Chain Monte Carlo Simulation by Differential Evolution with Self-Adaptive Randomized Subspace Sampling , 2009 .

[7]  Srinivas Bettadpur,et al.  Reducing errors in the GRACE gravity solutions using regularization , 2012, Journal of Geodesy.

[8]  P. Döll,et al.  Global‐scale assessment of groundwater depletion and related groundwater abstractions: Combining hydrological modeling with information from well observations and GRACE satellites , 2014 .

[9]  J. Wahr,et al.  Monitoring Aquifer Depletion from Space , 2014 .

[10]  Andreas Colliander,et al.  Technical Report Series on Global Modeling and Data Assimilation , 2015 .

[11]  Jiansheng Chen,et al.  Monitoring groundwater changes in the Yangtze River basin using satellite and model data , 2016, Arabian Journal of Geosciences.

[12]  Mohamed Sultan,et al.  Modern recharge to fossil aquifers: Geochemical, geophysical, and modeling constraints , 2011 .

[13]  M. Ghil,et al.  Oscillatory modes of extended Nile River records (A.D. 622–1922) , 2005 .

[14]  Mohamed Sultan,et al.  Assessing and Improving Land Surface Model Outputs Over Africa Using GRACE, Field, and Remote Sensing Data , 2016, Surveys in Geophysics.

[15]  M. Watkins,et al.  The gravity recovery and climate experiment: Mission overview and early results , 2004 .

[16]  T. M. Lillesand,et al.  Remote Sensing and Image Interpretation , 1980 .

[17]  K. Mitchell,et al.  A parameterization of snowpack and frozen ground intended for NCEP weather and climate models , 1999 .

[18]  Youssouf Koussoube,et al.  Climate Variability and Groundwater Response: A Case Study in Burkina Faso (West Africa) , 2016 .

[19]  S. J. Connor,et al.  Validation of high‐resolution satellite rainfall products over complex terrain , 2008 .

[20]  Alfonso Rivera,et al.  Assessing Groundwater Depletion and Dynamics Using GRACE and InSAR: Potential and Limitations , 2016, Ground water.

[21]  Ruth M. Doherty,et al.  African climate change: 1900-2100 , 2001 .

[22]  G. Pavlic,et al.  Mapping groundwater storage variations with GRACE: a case study in Alberta, Canada , 2016, Hydrogeology Journal.

[23]  Eric F. Wood,et al.  One-dimensional statistical dynamic representation of subgrid spatial variability of precipitation in the two-layer variable infiltration capacity model , 1996 .

[24]  S. Swenson,et al.  Estimating the human contribution to groundwater depletion in the Middle East, from GRACE data, land surface models, and well observations , 2014 .

[25]  Mohamed Sultan,et al.  Assessment of the Vulnerabilities of the Nubian Sandstone Fossil Aquifer, North Africa , 2013 .

[26]  G. E. Mountassir,et al.  Hydrodynamic coupling in microbially mediated fracture mineralization: Formation of self‐organized groundwater flow channels , 2014 .

[27]  J. Wahr,et al.  Computations of the viscoelastic response of a 3-D compressible Earth to surface loading: an application to Glacial Isostatic Adjustment in Antarctica and Canada , 2012 .

[28]  Mohamed Sultan,et al.  Aquifer recharge, depletion, and connectivity: Inferences from GRACE, land surface models, and geochemical and geophysical data , 2017 .

[29]  Petra Döll,et al.  Global-Scale Estimation of Diffuse Groundwater Recharge , 2005 .

[30]  P. Wycisk,et al.  Groundwater management options in an arid environment: The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System, Eastern Sahara , 2015 .

[31]  Ahmed E. Hassan,et al.  Assessing groundwater storage changes in the Nubian aquifer using GRACE data , 2016, Arabian Journal of Geosciences.

[32]  T. Chinowsky,et al.  Strong electric fields from positive lightning strokes in the stratosphere , 2003 .

[33]  M. Sultan,et al.  Cosmogenic, radiogenic, and stable isotopic constraints on groundwater residence time in the Nubian Aquifer, Western Desert of Egypt , 2005 .

[34]  R. Taylor,et al.  Rainfall intensity and groundwater recharge: empirical evidence from the Upper Nile Basin , 2009 .

[35]  Bruno Hamelin,et al.  Quantifying the modern recharge of the “fossil” Sahara aquifers , 2013 .

[36]  William M. Alley,et al.  Bringing GRACE Down to Earth , 2015, Ground water.

[37]  Jianbing Peng,et al.  Groundwater storage and depletion trends in the Loess areas of China , 2016, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[38]  W. K. Hastings,et al.  Monte Carlo Sampling Methods Using Markov Chains and Their Applications , 1970 .

[39]  Minkang Cheng,et al.  Variations of the Earth's figure axis from satellite laser ranging and GRACE , 2011 .

[40]  E. Forootan,et al.  Over Exploitation of Groundwater in the Centre of Amman Zarqa Basin—Jordan: Evaluation of Well Data and GRACE Satellite Observations , 2015 .

[41]  Himanshu Save,et al.  Quantifying temporal variations in water resources of a vulnerable middle eastern transboundary aquifer system , 2017 .

[42]  M. Rodell,et al.  Evaluation of a Model-Based Groundwater Drought Indicator in the Conterminous U.S. , 2015 .

[43]  Jeffrey P. Walker,et al.  THE GLOBAL LAND DATA ASSIMILATION SYSTEM , 2004 .

[44]  C. Birkett,et al.  The contribution of TOPEX/POSEIDON to the global monitoring of climatically sensitive lakes , 1995 .

[45]  J. Vogel,et al.  Isotopic composition of groundwater in semi-arid regions of southern Africa , 1975 .

[46]  B. Kelly,et al.  Groundwater recharge and time lag measurement through Vertosols using impulse response functions , 2016 .

[47]  Jonathan W. Chipman,et al.  Satellite‐based assessment of the dynamics of new lakes in southern Egypt , 2007 .

[48]  M. Nakhaei,et al.  Hydrogeological assessment of the Tabarteh fault zone by physicochemical analysis and multivariate statistical methods , 2016, Arabian Journal of Geosciences.

[49]  R. Becker,et al.  One million year old groundwater in the Sahara revealed by krypton‐81 and chlorine‐36 , 2004, physics/0402092.

[50]  Govindasamy Agoramoorthy,et al.  Groundwater Storage and Depletion Trends in Tamil Nadu State, India , 2015, Water Resources Management.

[51]  Srinivas Bettadpur,et al.  High‐resolution CSR GRACE RL05 mascons , 2016 .

[52]  Y. Hong,et al.  Have GRACE satellites overestimated groundwater depletion in the Northwest India Aquifer? , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[53]  S. Swenson,et al.  Post‐processing removal of correlated errors in GRACE data , 2006 .

[54]  Mohamed Ahmed,et al.  Structural Controls on Groundwater Flow in Basement Terrains: Geophysical, Remote Sensing, and Field Investigations in Sinai , 2015, Surveys in Geophysics.

[55]  A. Cazenave,et al.  SOLS: A lake database to monitor in the Near Real Time water level and storage variations from remote sensing data , 2011 .

[56]  J. Camp,et al.  Antarctica, Greenland and Gulf of Alaska land-ice evolution from an iterated GRACE global mascon solution , 2013, Journal of Glaciology.

[57]  F. Landerer,et al.  Accuracy of scaled GRACE terrestrial water storage estimates , 2012 .

[58]  D. Chambers,et al.  Estimating Geocenter Variations from a Combination of GRACE and Ocean Model Output , 2008 .

[59]  M. Watkins,et al.  Quantifying and reducing leakage errors in the JPL RL05M GRACE mascon solution , 2016 .

[60]  J. Wahr,et al.  Measurements of Time-Variable Gravity Show Mass Loss in Antarctica , 2006, Science.

[61]  Onur Lenk,et al.  Satellite based estimates of terrestrial water storage variations in Turkey , 2013 .

[62]  Wenji Zhao,et al.  Subregional‐scale groundwater depletion detected by GRACE for both shallow and deep aquifers in North China Plain , 2015 .

[63]  Pennan Chinnasamy,et al.  Improving spatiotemporal groundwater estimates after natural disasters using remotely sensed data – a case study of the Indian Ocean Tsunami , 2015, Earth Science Informatics.

[64]  Yangshuang Wang,et al.  Modeling of landslide generated impulsive waves considering complex topography in reservoir area , 2016, Environmental Earth Sciences.

[65]  C. Conrad,et al.  The impact of groundwater depletion on spatial variations in sea level change during the past century , 2015 .

[66]  D. Chambers,et al.  GRACE, time-varying gravity, Earth system dynamics and climate change , 2014, Reports on progress in physics. Physical Society.

[67]  E. Coppola,et al.  Uncertainties in daily rainfall over Africa: assessment of gridded observation products and evaluation of a regional climate model simulation , 2013 .

[68]  J. Kimball,et al.  A new global river network database for macroscale hydrologic modeling , 2012 .

[69]  M. Watkins,et al.  GRACE Measurements of Mass Variability in the Earth System , 2004, Science.

[70]  Mohamed Sultan,et al.  The use of GRACE data to monitor natural and anthropogenic induced variations in water availability across Africa , 2014 .

[71]  R. Dickinson,et al.  The Common Land Model , 2003 .

[72]  John Wahr,et al.  Monitoring the water balance of Lake Victoria, East Africa, from space. , 2009 .

[73]  Zheng Duan,et al.  Estimation of Reservoir Discharges from Lake Nasser and Roseires Reservoir in the Nile Basin Using Satellite Altimetry and Imagery Data , 2014, Remote. Sens..

[74]  Matthew Rodell,et al.  Groundwater depletion during drought threatens future water security of the Colorado River Basin , 2014, Geophysical research letters.

[75]  Kenji Nakamura,et al.  Validation of TRMM Radar Rainfall Data over Major Climatic Regions in Africa , 2003 .

[76]  B. Scanlon,et al.  Global analysis of approaches for deriving total water storage changes from GRACE satellites , 2015 .

[77]  Matthew Rodell,et al.  Groundwater depletion in the Middle East from GRACE with implications for transboundary water management in the Tigris-Euphrates-Western Iran region , 2013, Water resources research.

[78]  B. Scanlon,et al.  Global evaluation of new GRACE mascon products for hydrologic applications , 2016 .

[79]  James S. Famiglietti,et al.  Fate of Water Pumped from Underground and Contributions to Sea Level Rise , 2016 .

[80]  Mohamed Sultan,et al.  Integration of GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) data with traditional data sets for a better understanding of the time-dependent water partitioning in African watersheds , 2011 .

[81]  Ute Beyer,et al.  Remote Sensing And Image Interpretation , 2016 .

[82]  M. Sultan,et al.  Natural discharge: A key to sustainable utilization of fossil groundwater , 2007 .

[83]  Michael Durand,et al.  Comparing satellite derived precipitation datasets using the Hillslope River Routing (HRR) model in the Congo River Basin , 2011 .

[84]  B. Scanlon,et al.  Assessing controls on diffuse groundwater recharge using unsaturated flow modeling , 2005 .

[85]  Mohamed Sultan,et al.  A remote sensing solution for estimating runoff and recharge in arid environments , 2009 .

[86]  Chung-Yen Kuo,et al.  Calibration of JASON-1 Altimeter over Lake Erie Special Issue: Jason-1 Calibration/Validation , 2003 .

[87]  A. Swain.  Challenges for water sharing in the Nile basin: changing geo-politics and changing climate , 2011 .

[88]  Mohamed Ahmed,et al.  Geophysical Constraints on the Hydrogeologic and Structural Settings of the Gulf of Suez Rift-Related Basins: Case Study from the El Qaa Plain, Sinai, Egypt , 2014, Surveys in geophysics.

[89]  W. Feng,et al.  Evaluation of groundwater depletion in North China using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data and ground‐based measurements , 2013 .

[90]  M. Soltan,et al.  Physicochemical characteristics and distribution of some metals in the ecosystem of Lake Nasser, Egypt , 2005 .

[91]  F. Bryan,et al.  Time variability of the Earth's gravity field: Hydrological and oceanic effects and their possible detection using GRACE , 1998 .

[92]  P. Xie,et al.  Global Precipitation: A 17-Year Monthly Analysis Based on Gauge Observations, Satellite Estimates, and Numerical Model Outputs , 1997 .

[93]  V. M. Tiwari,et al.  Dwindling groundwater resources in northern India, from satellite gravity observations , 2009 .

[94]  V. Lakshmi.  Beyond GRACE: Using Satellite Data for Groundwater Investigations , 2016, Ground water.

[95]  J. Famiglietti,et al.  Precipitation Intensity Effects on Groundwater Recharge in the Southwestern United States , 2016 .