Satellite-derived surface and sub-surface water storage in the Ganges–Brahmaputra River Basin

Abstract Study region The Ganges–Brahmaputra (GB), a major river basin of the Indian Sub-Continent (ISC), is the host of more than 700 millions people. Study focus In addition to monsoons and strong climate variability, GB is facing growing demands for freshwater availability by a continually growing population and rapidly developing of agricultural and industrial sectors. The management of water resources is thus of highest priority and, in the context of current over-abstraction of groundwater, accurate estimates of terrestrial freshwater storage are essential. We propose a multi-satellite approach to estimate surface freshwater storage (SWS) and subsurface water storage (SSWS, groundwater + soil moisture) variations over GB. New hydrological insights Basin-scale monthly SWS variations for the period 2003–2007 show a mean annual amplitude of ∼410 km3, contributing to about 45% of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE)-derived total water storage variations (TWS). During the drought-like conditions in 2006, we estimate that the SWS deficit over the entire GB basin in July–August–September was about 30% as compared to other years. The SWS variations are then used to decompose the GB GRACE-derived TWS and isolate the variations of SSWS whose mean annual amplitude is estimated to be ∼550 km3. This new dataset of water storage variations represent an unprecedented source of information for hydrological and climate modeling studies of the ISC.

[1]  W. Rossow,et al.  Advances in understanding clouds from ISCCP , 1999 .

[2]  Catherine Prigent,et al.  Interannual variations of the terrestrial water storage in the Lower Ob' Basin from a multisatellite approach , 2009 .

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

[4]  Christine Lion,et al.  Uncertainties in Mean River Discharge Estimates Associated With Satellite Altimeter Temporal Sampling Intervals: A Case Study for the Annual Peak Flow in the Context of the Future SWOT Hydrology Mission , 2012, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

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

[6]  Marcos Heil Costa,et al.  Surface water dynamics in the Amazon Basin: Application of satellite radar altimetry , 2001 .

[7]  Catherine Prigent,et al.  Wetland dynamics using a suite of satellite observations: A case study of application and evaluation for the Indian Subcontinent , 2006 .

[8]  S. Kanae,et al.  A physically based description of floodplain inundation dynamics in a global river routing model , 2011 .

[9]  J. Matsumoto,et al.  Effects of rainfall variation on rice production in the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin , 2009 .

[10]  R. Dmowska,et al.  International Geophysics Series , 1992 .

[11]  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 .

[12]  J. Crétaux,et al.  Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Evaluation of the Isba-trip Continental Hydrologic System over the Niger Basin Using in Situ and Satellite Derived Datasets v. Pedinotti Et Al.: Isba-trip Continental Hydrologic System over the Niger Basin , 2022 .

[13]  Aaron Boone,et al.  The Hydrological Modeling and Analysis Platform (HyMAP): Evaluation in the Amazon Basin , 2012 .

[14]  Taikan Oki,et al.  Role of rivers in the seasonal variations of terrestrial water storage over global basins , 2009 .

[15]  R. Chandler,et al.  Recent trends in groundwater levels in a highly seasonal hydrological system: the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta , 2009 .

[16]  Animesh K. Gain,et al.  Assessment of Future Water Scarcity at Different Spatial and Temporal Scales of the Brahmaputra River Basin , 2014, Water Resources Management.

[17]  Frédéric Frappart,et al.  Denoising Satellite Gravity Signals by Independent Component Analysis , 2010, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters.

[18]  Y. Hong,et al.  The TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA): Quasi-Global, Multiyear, Combined-Sensor Precipitation Estimates at Fine Scales , 2007 .

[19]  G. Huffman,et al.  The TRMM Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) , 2010 .

[20]  H. Douville,et al.  Global off-line evaluation of the ISBA-TRIP flood model , 2012, Climate Dynamics.

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

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

[23]  M. A. Hoque,et al.  Declining groundwater level and aquifer dewatering in Dhaka metropolitan area, Bangladesh: causes and quantification , 2007 .

[24]  S. Calmant,et al.  Water levels in the Amazon basin derived from the ERS 2 and ENVISAT radar altimetry missions , 2010 .

[25]  P. Döll,et al.  Development and validation of a global database of lakes, reservoirs and wetlands , 2004 .

[26]  M. Shamsudduha,et al.  Quaternary shoreline shifting and hydrogeologic influence on the distribution of groundwater arsenic in aquifers of the Bengal Basin , 2007 .

[27]  B. Chao,et al.  Past and future contribution of global groundwater depletion to sea‐level rise , 2012 .

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

[29]  F. Aires,et al.  Changes in land surface water dynamics since the 1990s and relation to population pressure , 2012 .

[30]  Eloise Kendy,et al.  Groundwater depletion: A global problem , 2005 .

[31]  Moustafa T. Chahine,et al.  The hydrological cycle and its influence on climate , 1992, Nature.

[32]  N. Arnell,et al.  Freshwater resources and their management , 2007 .

[33]  Frédéric Frappart,et al.  An independent component analysis filtering approach for estimating continental hydrology in the GRACE gravity data , 2011 .

[34]  R. Taylor,et al.  The impact of intensive groundwater abstraction on recharge to a shallow regional aquifer system: evidence from Bangladesh , 2011 .

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

[36]  Javier Tomasella,et al.  Satellite-based estimates of groundwater storage variations in large drainage basins with extensive floodplains , 2011 .

[37]  L. Longuevergne,et al.  Monitoring groundwater storage changes in the highly seasonal humid tropics: Validation of GRACE measurements in the Bengal Basin , 2012 .

[38]  Taotao Qian,et al.  Changes in Continental Freshwater Discharge from 1948 to 2004 , 2009 .

[39]  Filipe Aires,et al.  A Long-Term, High-Resolution Wetland Dataset over the Amazon Basin, Downscaled from a Multiwavelength Retrieval Using SAR Data , 2013 .

[40]  R. Khanbilvardi,et al.  Diagnosing Water Variations Within The Amazon Basin Using Satellite Data , 2011 .

[41]  N. Ward,et al.  Hydro‐meteorological variability in the greater Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna basins , 2004 .

[42]  R. Reynolds,et al.  The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project , 1996, Renewable Energy.

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

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

[45]  Seungjin Choi,et al.  Independent Component Analysis , 2009, Handbook of Natural Computing.

[46]  F. Aires,et al.  Surface freshwater storage and variability in the Amazon basin from multi‐satellite observations, 1993–2007 , 2013 .

[47]  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 .

[48]  S. Kanae,et al.  Model estimates of sea-level change due to anthropogenic impacts on terrestrial water storage , 2012 .

[49]  William B. Rossow,et al.  Ganga-Brahmaputra river discharge from Jason-2 radar altimetry: An update to the long-term satellite-derived estimates of continental freshwater forcing flux into the Bay of Bengal , 2012 .

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

[51]  Filipe Aires,et al.  Land Surface Microwave Emissivities over the Globe for a Decade , 2006 .

[52]  S. Shenoi,et al.  Surface freshwater from Bay of Bengal runoff and Indonesian Throughflow in the tropical Indian Ocean , 2006 .

[53]  Frédérique Seyler,et al.  Water level dynamics of Amazon wetlands at the watershed scale by satellite altimetry , 2012 .

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

[55]  C. Prigent,et al.  Global-scale analysis of satellite-derived time series of naturally inundated areas as a basis for floodplain modeling , 2010 .

[56]  William B. Rossow,et al.  Satellite altimeter‐derived monthly discharge of the Ganga‐Brahmaputra River and its seasonal to interannual variations from 1993 to 2008 , 2010 .

[57]  Jean-François Crétaux,et al.  Evolution of Sea Level of the Big Aral Sea from Satellite Altimetry and Its Implications for Water Balance , 2005 .

[58]  Alenia Aerospazio,et al.  ENVISAT RA-2 ADVANCED RADAR ALTIMETER : INSTRUMENT DESIGN AND PRE-LAUNCH PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT REVIEW , 1999 .

[59]  J. B. Miller,et al.  Contribution of anthropogenic and natural sources to atmospheric methane variability , 2006, Nature.

[60]  A. Cazenave,et al.  Satellite altimetry and earth sciences : a handbook of techniques and applications , 2001 .

[61]  Catherine Prigent,et al.  Microwave land surface emissivities estimated from SSM/I observations , 1997 .

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

[63]  Shilong Piao,et al.  Modelling sub-grid wetland in the ORCHIDEE global land surface model: evaluation against river discharges and remotely sensed data , 2012 .

[64]  A. Cazenave,et al.  Land water storage contribution to sea level from GRACE geoid data over 2003–2006 , 2008 .

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

[66]  A. Hoekstra,et al.  Global Monthly Water Scarcity: Blue Water Footprints versus Blue Water Availability , 2012, PloS one.

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

[68]  Jean-François Crétaux,et al.  Water level estimation by remote sensing for the 2008 flooding of the Kosi River , 2014 .

[69]  C. Prigent,et al.  Surface freshwater storage and dynamics in the Amazon basin during the 2005 exceptional drought , 2012 .

[70]  T. Oki,et al.  Dynamics of surface water storage in the Amazon inferred from measurements of inter‐satellite distance change , 2009 .

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

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

[73]  J. Palutikof,et al.  Climate change 2007 : impacts, adaptation and vulnerability , 2001 .

[74]  Filipe Aires,et al.  Remote sensing of global wetland dynamics with multiple satellite data sets , 2001 .

[75]  D. Lettenmaier,et al.  Measuring surface water from space , 2004 .