Interannual variations of the terrestrial water storage in the Lower Ob' Basin from a multisatellite approach

Abstract. Temporal variations of surface water volume over inundated areas of the Lower Ob' Basin in Siberia, one of the largest contributor of freshwater to the Arctic Ocean, are estimated using combined observations from a multisatellite inundation dataset and water levels over rivers and floodplains derived from the TOPEX/POSEIDON (T/P) radar altimetry. We computed time-series of monthly maps of surface water volume over the common period of available T/P and multisatellite data (1993–2004). The results exhibit interannual variabilities similar to precipitation estimates and river discharge observations. This study also presents monthly estimates of groundwater and permafrost mass anomalies during 2003–2004 based on a synergistic analysis of multisatellite observations and hydrological models. Water stored in the soil is isolated from the total water storage measured by GRACE when removing the contributions of both the surface reservoir, derived from satellite imagery and radar altimetry, and the snow estimated by inversion of GRACE measurements. The time variations of groundwater and permafrost are then obtained when removing the water content of the root zone reservoir simulated by hydrological models.

[1]  J. Janowiak,et al.  The Version 2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979-Present) , 2003 .

[2]  W. Oechel,et al.  Observational Evidence of Recent Change in the Northern High-Latitude Environment , 2000 .

[3]  Daqing Yang,et al.  Discharge Characteristics and Changes over the Ob River Watershed in Siberia , 2004 .

[4]  J. R. Mackay.  Active Layer Changes (1968 to 1993) Following the Forest-Tundra Fire near Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada , 1995 .

[5]  P. Döll,et al.  Global-scale modeling of groundwater recharge , 2008 .

[6]  L. D. Hinzman,et al.  Disappearing Arctic Lakes , 2005, Science.

[7]  J. Famiglietti,et al.  Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India , 2009, Nature.

[8]  A. Venkitaraman.  Water cycle shifts gear , 2005 .

[9]  William B. Rossow,et al.  Monitoring Flood and Discharge Variations in the Large Siberian Rivers From a Multi-Satellite Technique , 2008 .

[10]  P. Stott,et al.  Human influence on increasing Arctic river discharges , 2005 .

[11]  Douglas L. Kane,et al.  Siberian Lena River hydrologic regime and recent change , 2002 .

[12]  Anny Cazenave,et al.  Ob' river discharge from TOPEX/Poseidon satellite altimetry (1992–2002) , 2004 .

[13]  Richard B. Lammers,et al.  THE DYNAMICS OF RIVER WATER INFLOW TO THE ARCTIC OCEAN , 2000 .

[14]  Frédéric Frappart,et al.  Satellite-based high latitude snow volume trend, variability and contribution to sea level over 1989/2006 , 2011 .

[15]  Dorothy K. Hall,et al.  Assessment of the relative accuracy of hemispheric-scale snow-cover maps , 2002, Annals of Glaciology.

[16]  M. Acreman,et al.  The role of wetlands in the hydrological cycle , 2003 .

[17]  Douglas L. Kane,et al.  Variation of hydrological regime with permafrost coverage over Lena Basin in Siberia , 2009 .

[18]  Manuela Grippa,et al.  Comparison between the interannual variability of snow parameters derived from SSM/I and the Ob river discharge , 2005 .

[19]  William B. Rossow,et al.  Ob' River flood inundations from satellite observations: A relationship with winter snow parameters and river runoff , 2007 .

[20]  H. Douville,et al.  A new river flooding scheme for global climate applications: Off‐line evaluation over South America , 2008 .

[21]  Guillaume Ramillien,et al.  Basin‐scale, integrated observations of the early 21st century multiyear drought in southeast Australia , 2009 .

[22]  A. Cazenave,et al.  Floodplain water storage in the Negro River basin estimated from microwave remote sensing of inundation area and water levels , 2005 .

[23]  R. Massom.  Satellite remote sensing of polar snow and ice: present status and future directions , 1995, Polar Record.

[24]  Jürgen Kusche,et al.  Evaluation of GRACE filter tools from a hydrological perspective , 2009 .

[25]  Remote Sensing in Snow Hydrology: Runoff Modelling, Effect of Climate Change , 2004 .

[26]  Guillaume Ramillien,et al.  Detection of Continental Hydrology and Glaciology Signals from GRACE: A Review , 2008 .

[27]  R. Barry,et al.  Statistics and characteristics of permafrost and ground-ice distribution in the Northern Hemisphere , 1999 .

[28]  Catherine Prigent,et al.  An attempt to quantify the impact of changes in wetland extent on methane emissions on the seasonal and interannual time scales , 2010 .

[29]  Frédéric Frappart,et al.  WATER VOLUME CHANGE IN THE LOWER MEKONG FROM SATELLITE ALTIMETRY AND IMAGERY DATA , 2006 .

[30]  C. Prigent,et al.  Interannual variations of river water storage from a multiple satellite approach: A case study for the Rio Negro River basin , 2008 .

[31]  David A. Robinson,et al.  Seasonal Variability of Northern Hemisphere Snow Extent Using Visible Satellite Data , 2000 .

[32]  C. Birkett,et al.  Contribution of the TOPEX NASA Radar Altimeter to the global monitoring of large rivers and wetlands , 1998 .

[33]  Guillaume Ramillien,et al.  Water balance of the Arctic drainage system using GRACE gravimetry products , 2011 .

[34]  M. Woo.  Permafrost hydrology in North America 1 , 1986 .

[35]  Frédérique Seyler,et al.  Monitoring Continental Surface Waters by Satellite Altimetry , 2008 .

[36]  Douglas L. Kane,et al.  The Impact of Hydrologic Perturbations on Arctic Ecosystems Induced by Climate Change , 1997 .

[37]  Vladimir E. Romanovsky,et al.  Groundwater storage changes in arctic permafrost watersheds from GRACE and in situ measurements , 2009 .

[38]  L. Smith.  Satellite remote sensing of river inundation area, stage, and discharge: a review , 1997 .

[39]  P. Döll,et al.  A global hydrological model for deriving water availability indicators: model tuning and validation , 2003 .

[40]  Richard B. Lammers,et al.  Increasing River Discharge to the Arctic Ocean , 2002, Science.

[41]  Laurence C. Smith,et al.  Rising minimum daily flows in northern Eurasian rivers: A growing influence of groundwater in the high‐latitude hydrologic cycle , 2007 .

[42]  Frédéric Frappart,et al.  Evolution of high‐latitude snow mass derived from the GRACE gravimetry mission (2002–2004) , 2006 .

[43]  P. Milly,et al.  Global Modeling of Land Water and Energy Balances. Part I: The Land Dynamics (LaD) Model , 2002 .

[44]  A. Cazenave,et al.  Preliminary results of ENVISAT RA-2-derived water levels validation over the Amazon basin , 2006 .

[45]  Frédéric Frappart,et al.  Variations of surface water extent and water storage in large river basins: A comparison of different global data sources , 2008 .

[46]  E. Maltby,et al.  Wetland management goals: wise use and conservation , 1991 .

[47]  Frédéric Frappart,et al.  Time variations of land water storage from an inversion of 2 years of GRACE geoids , 2005 .

[48]  F. Aires,et al.  Global inundation dynamics inferred from multiple satellite observations, 1993–2000 , 2007 .

[49]  J. Kusche,et al.  Hydrological Signals Observed by the GRACE Satellites , 2008 .

[50]  M. Cheng,et al.  GGM02 – An improved Earth gravity field model from GRACE , 2005 .

[51]  Christoph C. Raible,et al.  Climate change: Water cycle shifts gear , 2005, Nature.

[52]  F. Aires,et al.  Interannual variability of surface water extent at the global scale, 1993–2004 , 2010 .