Spatio-Temporal Variations in Groundwater Revealed by GRACE and Its Driving Factors in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, China

The Huang-Huai-Hai (3H) Plain is the major crop-producing region in China. Due to the long-term overexploitation of groundwater for irrigation, the groundwater funnel is constantly expanding and the scarcity of water resources is prominent in this region. In this study, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and hydrological models were used to estimate the spatial-temporal changes of groundwater storage (GWS) and the driving factors of GWS variations were discussed in the 3H Plain. The results showed that GRACE-based GWS was depleted at a rate of −1.14 ± 0.89 cm/y in the 3H Plain during 2003 to 2015. The maximum negative anomaly occurred in spring due to agricultural irrigation activities. Spatially, the loss of GWS in the Haihe River Basin is more serious than that in the Huaihe River Basin, presenting a decreasing trend from south to north. Conversely, the blue water footprint (WFblue) of wheat exhibited an increasing trend from south to north. During the drought years of 2006, 2013, and 2014, more groundwater was extracted to offset the surface water shortage, leading to an accelerated decline in GWS. This study demonstrated that GWS depletion in the 3H Plain is well explained by reduced precipitation and groundwater abstraction due to anthropogenic irrigation activities.

[1]  Eloise Kendy,et al.  Groundwater Exploitation and Its Impact on the Environment in the North China Plain , 2001 .

[2]  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 .

[3]  Ayman A. Hassan,et al.  Assessment of terrestrial water contributions to polar motion from GRACE and hydrological models , 2012 .

[4]  H. Garduño,et al.  Quaternary Aquifer of the North China Plain—assessing and achieving groundwater resource sustainability , 2004 .

[5]  J. Dracup,et al.  The Quantification of Drought: An Evaluation of Drought Indices , 2002 .

[6]  Zhonghe Pang,et al.  Groundwater recharge in an arid grassland as indicated by soil chloride profile and multiple tracers , 2017 .

[7]  H. Gong,et al.  Detection of human‐induced evapotranspiration using GRACE satellite observations in the Haihe River basin of China , 2017 .

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

[9]  Arjen Y Hoekstra,et al.  Water footprint scenarios for 2050: a global analysis. , 2014, Environment international.

[10]  Pute Wu,et al.  Determining Regional-Scale Groundwater Recharge with GRACE and GLDAS , 2019, Remote. Sens..

[11]  Emmanouil N. Anagnostou,et al.  Hydrologic evaluation of satellite and reanalysis precipitation datasets over a mid-latitude basin , 2015 .

[12]  R. Koster,et al.  Modeling the land surface boundary in climate models as a composite of independent vegetation stands , 1992 .

[13]  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 .

[14]  P. Döll,et al.  Groundwater use for irrigation - a global inventory , 2010 .

[15]  J. D. Tarpley,et al.  Implementation of Noah land surface model advances in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction operational mesoscale Eta model , 2003 .

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

[17]  Liang Chang,et al.  Monitoring Groundwater Variations from Satellite Gravimetry and Hydrological Models: A Comparison with in-situ Measurements in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States , 2015, Remote. Sens..

[18]  Marc F. P. Bierkens,et al.  Global hydrology 2015: State, trends, and directions , 2015 .

[19]  B. Scanlon,et al.  Implications of projected climate change for groundwater recharge in the western United States , 2016 .

[20]  Xianfang Song,et al.  Shallow groundwater dynamics in North China Plain , 2009 .

[21]  Zizhan Zhang,et al.  Groundwater Depletion in the West Liaohe River Basin, China and Its Implications Revealed by GRACE and In Situ Measurements , 2018, Remote. Sens..

[22]  Lu Zhang,et al.  Impacts of soil conservation on groundwater recharge in the semi-arid Loess Plateau, China , 2011 .

[23]  B. Scanlon,et al.  Ground water and climate change , 2013 .

[24]  Diana M. Allen,et al.  Groundwater sustainability strategies , 2010 .

[25]  Chunsheng Hu,et al.  Conserving groundwater for irrigation in the North China Plain , 2002, Irrigation Science.

[26]  Torsten Müller,et al.  Optimization of yield and water-use of different cropping systems for sustainable groundwater use in North China Plain , 2011 .

[27]  P. O’Gorman,et al.  The Response of Precipitation Minus Evapotranspiration to Climate Warming: Why the “Wet-Get-Wetter, Dry-Get-Drier” Scaling Does Not Hold over Land , 2015 .

[28]  Xiying Zhang,et al.  Impact of different cropping systems and irrigation schedules on evapotranspiration, grain yield and groundwater level in the North China Plain , 2019, Agricultural Water Management.

[29]  Xiying Zhang,et al.  Improved Water Use Efficiency Associated with Cultivars and Agronomic Management in the North China Plain , 2005 .

[30]  D. Nielsen,et al.  Year patterns of climate impact on wheat yields , 2014 .

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

[32]  Fu Chen,et al.  Spatio-temporal variations of winter wheat water requirement and climatic causes in Huang-Huai-Hai Farming Region: Spatio-temporal variations of winter wheat water requirement and climatic causes in Huang-Huai-Hai Farming Region , 2012 .

[33]  S. Swenson,et al.  Satellites measure recent rates of groundwater depletion in California's Central Valley , 2011 .

[34]  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.

[35]  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 .

[36]  F. Zhao,et al.  Water consumption in summer maize and winter wheat cropping system based on SEBAL model in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, China , 2015 .

[37]  Frédéric Frappart,et al.  Monitoring Groundwater Storage Changes Using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Satellite Mission: A Review , 2018, Remote. Sens..

[38]  B. Scanlon,et al.  Comparison of seasonal terrestrial water storage variations from GRACE with groundwater‐level measurements from the High Plains Aquifer (USA) , 2007 .

[39]  Yang Xiao.  Spatio-temporal variations of winter wheat water requirement and climatic causes in Huang-Huai-Hai Farming Region , 2012 .

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

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

[42]  H. Malekinezhad,et al.  Modeling impacts of climate change and human activities on groundwater resources using MODFLOW , 2018 .

[43]  John A. Dracup,et al.  The Quantification of Drought: An Evaluation of Drought Indices , 2002 .

[44]  Matthew Rodell,et al.  The potential for satellite-based monitoring of groundwater storage changes using GRACE: the High Plains aquifer, Central US , 2002 .

[45]  B. Scanlon,et al.  Ground referencing GRACE satellite estimates of groundwater storage changes in the California Central Valley, USA , 2012 .

[46]  D. Lettenmaier,et al.  A simple hydrologically based model of land surface water and energy fluxes for general circulation models , 1994 .

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

[48]  S. Swenson,et al.  Remote sensing of groundwater storage changes in Illinois using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) , 2006 .

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

[50]  E. Ranst,et al.  Temperature and Precipitation Suitability Evaluation for the Winter Wheat and Summer Maize Cropping System in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China , 2011 .

[51]  S. Swenson,et al.  Methods for inferring regional surface‐mass anomalies from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) measurements of time‐variable gravity , 2002 .

[52]  Wang Tong-cha.  Preliminary Study on Evapotranspiration of Winter Wheat and Summer Maize Cropping System , 2014 .

[53]  Brian F. Thomas,et al.  Monitoring groundwater storage changes in complex basement aquifers: An evaluation of the GRACE satellites over East Africa , 2016 .

[54]  A. Hoekstra.  Virtual water trade : A quantification of virtual water flows between nations in relation to international crop trade , 2003 .

[55]  Alexander Y. Sun,et al.  Inferring aquifer storage parameters using satellite and in situ measurements: Estimation under uncertainty , 2010 .

[56]  Lu Zhang,et al.  Global impacts of conversions from natural to agricultural ecosystems on water resources: Quantity versus quality , 2007 .

[57]  Jason J. Gurdak.  Groundwater: Climate-induced pumping , 2017 .

[58]  Shao Jingli.  Application of Groundwater Modeling Systemto the Evaluation of Groundwater Resources in North China Plain , 2009 .

[59]  J. Famiglietti,et al.  Estimating groundwater storage changes in the Mississippi River basin (USA) using GRACE , 2007 .

[60]  A. Hoekstra,et al.  The effect of inter-annual variability of consumption, production, trade and climate on crop-related green and blue water footprints and inter-regional virtual water trade: A study for China (1978-2008). , 2016, Water research.

[61]  Meng Zhang,et al.  Effects of micro-sprinkling with different irrigation amount on grain yield and water use efficiency of winter wheat in the North China Plain , 2019, Agricultural Water Management.

[62]  M. Sophocleous.  Interactions between groundwater and surface water: the state of the science , 2002 .

[63]  Yun Pan,et al.  Groundwater Storage Changes in China from Satellite Gravity: An Overview , 2018, Remote. Sens..

[64]  Qiang Chen,et al.  Geodetic and hydrological measurements reveal the recent acceleration of groundwater depletion in North China Plain , 2019, Journal of Hydrology.

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

[66]  J. Kusche,et al.  Calibration/Data Assimilation Approach for Integrating GRACE Data into the WaterGAP Global Hydrology Model (WGHM) Using an Ensemble Kalman Filter: First Results , 2013, Surveys in Geophysics.

[67]  Yongqiang Zhang,et al.  Determination of daily evaporation and evapotranspiration of winter wheat and maize by large-scale weighing lysimeter and micro-lysimeter , 2002 .

[68]  Xianfang Song,et al.  A root zone model for estimating soil water balance and crop yield responses to deficit irrigation in the North China Plain , 2012 .