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AGU: Water Resources Research

 

Keywords

  • GRACE
  • groundwater
  • soil moisture

Index Terms

  • Hydrology: Groundwater hydrology
  • Hydrology: Soil moisture
  • Geodesy and Gravity: Time variable gravity
  • Geodesy and Gravity: Satellite geodesy: results

Abstract

WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, VOL. 44, W01413, 12 PP., 2008
doi:10.1029/2007WR006057

Estimating profile soil moisture and groundwater variations using GRACE and Oklahoma Mesonet soil moisture data

Sean Swenson

Advanced Study Program, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA

James Famiglietti

Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, California, USA

Jeffrey Basara

Oklahoma Climatological Survey, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

John Wahr

Department of Physics and CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

In this study we estimate a time series of regional groundwater anomalies by combining terrestrial water storage estimates from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission with in situ soil moisture observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet. Using supplementary data from the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (DOE ARM) network, we develop an empirical scaling factor with which to relate the soil moisture variability in the top 75 cm sampled by the Mesonet sites to the total variability in the upper 4 m of the unsaturated zone. By subtracting this estimate of the full unsaturated zone soil moisture anomalies, we arrive at a time series of groundwater anomalies, spatially averaged over a region approximately 280,000 km2 in area. Results are compared to observed well level data from a larger surrounding region, and show consistent phase and relative inter-annual variability.

Received 22 March 2007; accepted 5 October 2007; published 10 January 2008.

Citation: Swenson, S., J. Famiglietti, J. Basara, and J. Wahr (2008), Estimating profile soil moisture and groundwater variations using GRACE and Oklahoma Mesonet soil moisture data, Water Resour. Res., 44, W01413, doi:10.1029/2007WR006057.

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