Publications

Abstract

The Global Runoff Data Center (GRDC) data set has faced a decline in the number of active gauges since the 1980s, leaving only 14\% of gauges active as of 2020. We develop the Remote Sensing-based Extension for the GRDC (RSEG) data set that can ingest legacy gauge discharge and remote sensing observations. We employ a stochastic nonparametric mapping algorithm to extend the monthly discharge time series for inactive GRDC stations, benefiting from satellite imagery- and altimetry-derived river width and water height observations. After a rigorous quality assessment of our estimated discharge, involving statistical validation, tests and visual inspection, results in the extension of discharge records for 3377 out of 6015 GRDC stations. The quality of discharge estimates for the rivers with a large or medium mean discharge is quite satisfactory (average KGE value > 0.5) however for river reaches with a low mean discharge the average KGE value drops to 0.33.The RSEG data set regains monitoring capability for 83\% of total river discharge measured by GRDC stations, equivalent to 7895þinspacekm3/month.

Abstract

The Copernicus Sentinel-3 Surface Topography Mission (STM) Land Altimetry provides valuable surface elevation information over inland waters, sea ice, and land ice, thanks to its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) altimeter and its orbit that covers high-latitude polar regions. To ensure that these measurements are reliable and to maximise the return on investment, adequate validation of the geophysical retrieval methods, processing algorithms, and corrections must be performed using independent observations. The EU-ESA project St3TART (started July 2021) aims to generalise the concept of Fiducial Reference Measurements (FRMs) for the Copernicus Sentinel-3 STM. This work has gathered existing data, made new observations during field campaigns, and ensured that these observations meet the criteria of FRM standards so that they can be used to validate Sentinel-3 STM Land Altimetry products operationally. A roadmap for the operational provision of the FRM, including the definition, consolidation, and identification of the most relevant and cost-effective methods and protocols to be maintained, supported, or implemented, has been developed. The roadmap includes guidelines for SI traceability, definitions of FRM measurement procedures, processing methods, and uncertainty budget estimations.

Abstract

The spherical shell and spherical zonal band are two elemental geometries that are often used as benchmarks for gravity field modeling. When applying the spherical shell and spherical zonal band discretized into tesseroids, the errors may be reduced or cancelled for the superposition of the tesseroids due to the spherical symmetry of the spherical shell and spherical zonal band. In previous studies, this superposition error elimination effect (SEEE) of the spherical shell and spherical zonal band has not been taken seriously, and it needs to be investigated carefully. In this contribution, the analytical formulas of the signal of derivatives of the gravitational potential up to third order (e.g., V, \$\$V\_\z\\$\$, \$\$V\_\zz\\$\$, \$\$V\_\xx\\$\$, \$\$V\_\yy\\$\$, \$\$V\_\zzz\\$\$, \$\$V\_\xxz\\$\$, and \$\$V\_\yyz\\$\$) of a tesseroid are derived when the computation point is situated on the polar axis. In comparison with prior research, simpler analytical expressions of the gravitational effects of a spherical zonal band are derived from these novel expressions of a tesseroid. In the numerical experiments, the relative errors of the gravitational effects of the individual tesseroid are compared to those of the spherical zonal band and spherical shell not only with different 3D Gauss--Legendre quadrature orders ranging from (1,1,1) to (7,7,7) but also with different grid sizes (i.e., \$\$5^\\backslashcirc \\backslashtimes 5^\\backslashcirc \\$\$, \$\$2^\\backslashcirc \\backslashtimes 2^\\backslashcirc \\$\$, \$\$1^\\backslashcirc \\backslashtimes 1^\\backslashcirc \\$\$, \$\$30^\\backslashprime \\backslashtimes 30^\\backslashprime \\$\$, and \$\$15^\\backslashprime \\backslashtimes 15^\\backslashprime \\$\$) at a satellite altitude of 260 km. Numerical results reveal that the SEEE does not occur for the gravitational components V, \$\$V\_\z\\$\$, \$\$V\_\zz\\$\$, and \$\$V\_\zzz\\$\$of a spherical zonal band discretized into tesseroids. The SEEE can be found for the \$\$V\_\xx\\$\$and \$\$V\_\yy\\$\$, whereas the superposition error effect exists for the \$\$V\_\xxz\\$\$and \$\$V\_\yyz\\$\$of a spherical zonal band discretized into tesseroids on the overall average. In most instances, the SEEE occurs for a spherical shell discretized into tesseroids. In summary, numerical experiments demonstrate the existence of the SEEE of a spherical zonal band and a spherical shell, and the analytical solutions for a tesseroid can benefit the investigation of the SEEE. The single tesseroid benchmark can be proposed in comparison to the spherical shell and spherical zonal band benchmarks in gravity field modeling based on these new analytical formulas of a tesseroid.

Abstract

Abstract The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will vastly expand measurements of global rivers, providing critical new datasets for both gaged and ungaged basins. SWOT discharge products (available approximately one year after launch) will provide discharge for all river reaches wider than 100 m. In this paper, we describe how SWOT discharge produced and archived by the US and French space agencies will be computed from measurements of river water surface elevation, width, and slope and ancillary data, along with expected discharge accuracy. We present for the first time a complete estimate of the SWOT discharge uncertainty budget, with separate terms for random (standard error) and systematic (bias) uncertainty components in river discharge timeseries. We expect that discharge uncertainty will be less than 30\% for two thirds of global reaches and will be dominated by bias. Separate river discharge estimates will combine both SWOT and in situ data; these “gage constrained” discharge estimates can be expected to have lower systematic uncertainty. Temporal variations in river discharge timeseries will be dominated by random error and are expected to be estimated to within 15\% for nearly all reaches, allowing accurate inference of event flow dynamics globally, including in ungaged basins. We believe this level of accuracy lays the groundwork for SWOT to enable breakthroughs in global hydrologic science.

Abstract

The accurate monitoring of the surface water storage as an essential component of the global water cycle requires a realistic representation of river networks and channel characteristics. Since such a representation has not been available for many rivers and is becoming less available even for many gauged rivers, crucial questions about the spatio-temporal dynamics of freshwater in river networks cannot be answered properly. The global coverage and fine temporal resolution of satellite imagery provide the opportunity to obtain time series of surface water extent at the global scale for almost all rivers. However, despite recent advances in satellite imaging sensors, water extraction algorithms, and big data processing capabilities, none of the available global water extent data sets can meet the necessary requirements in terms of accuracy and spatio-temporal resolutions. Due to the inherent complexity of monitoring the river surface extent, efforts have been limited to the development of global river extent data sets with a limited number of temporal layers usually obtained from long-term averaged satellite imagery. In this study, we propose a region-based image restoration algorithm to obtain the river surface extent from a pre-existing global inland water data set by incorporating temporal and spatial constraints between pixel labels. We employ our algorithm on the Monthly Water History maps of the Global Surface Water data set (Pekel et al., 2016). We validate the proposed method on 98 river reaches that their average width ranges from approximately 36m to 3400m with in situ discharge measurements in the Mississippi, Amazon, Niger and Po river basins. The obtained river width time series exhibit a strong monotonic relationship with discharge measurements as the Spearman correlation coefficients are predominantly larger than 0.70 (on average 0.74 for Mississippi, 0.84 for Amazon, 0.86 for Niger and 0.77 for Po rivers). Such a performance confirms that the proposed method can facilitate the acquisition of a global dynamic river extent data set, which plays a key role in better understanding the distribution and availability of freshwater across continents.

Abstract

Abstract Convective vortices (whirlwinds) and dust devils (dust-loaded vortices) are one of the most common phenomena on Mars. They reflect the local thermodynamical structure of the atmosphere and are the driving force of the dust cycle. Additionally, they cause an elastic ground deformation, which is useful for retrieving the subsurface rigidity. Therefore, investigating convective vortices with the right instrumentation can lead to a better understanding of the Martian atmospheric structures as well as the subsurface physical properties. In this study, we quantitatively characterized the convective vortices detected by NASA's InSight (∼13,000 events) using meteorological (e.g., pressure, wind speed, temperature) and seismic data. The evaluated parameters, such as the signal-to-noise ratio, event duration, asymmetricity of pressure drop profiles, and cross-correlation between seismic and pressure signals, are compiled as a catalog. Using these parameters, we investigated (a) the vortex structure and (b) the subsurface physical properties. Regarding the first topic, we tried to illustrate the vertical vortex structure and its link to the shape of the pressure profiles by combining the asymmetrical features seen in the observed pressure drops and the terrestrial observations of dust devils. Our results indicate that most of the vortices move with the wall tilted in the advection direction. Concerning the second topic, selecting the highly correlated events between pressure perturbation and ground response, we estimated the subsurface rigidity at the InSight landing site down to 100 m depth. Our results indicate that the subsurface structure can be modeled with two layers having a transition at 5–15 m depth.

Abstract

Surface currents in oceanic environment are of vital importance from economical, biological and environmental aspects. Modelling ocean currents has generally been performed using numerical ocean circulation models as a solution to initial-boundary value problems in oceanic domain. Due to lack of knowledge about model parameters as well as initial and boundary values, they need to be externally calibrated for accurate local and regional applications. In this study, an alternative approach is proposed to incorporate spaceborne geodetic observations as well as hydrographic data to estimate the total surface current in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea. Being the data-driven approach, the method is comparable to numerical ocean models and regionally it is more accurate and simpler in application. The proposed method focuses on the computation of dynamic topography (DT) by least squares variance component estimation combining two different schemes. They are (1) DT estimation via direct observations of sea surface height from satellite altimetry and (2) steric and non-steric modeling of sea level anomaly using temperature and salinity data for the steric component; and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment observations for the non-steric component. Ultimately, the total surface current is obtained by computing the horizontal gradient of DT using geostrophic equation and adding the components of the Ekman current. Moreover, the estimated total surface current is further improved by assimilating with in situ current meter data using 3D-Variational data assimilation method and it is validated against two control stations. This assimilation leads to improvement of about 3 to 15 cm/s in total surface current computed using geostrophic equation and Ekman current. Besides, to illustrate the significance of the proposed approach, the estimated total surface current is externally validated and compared with the output of Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS), as a numerical ocean model developed for oceanographic applications. Our comparison reveals that the proposed method is more accurate and reliable than CMEMS products. As for the circulation and current pattern, the estimated surface velocities reveal the existence of eddies in the region of the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea, indicating the occurrence of cyclonic and anti-cyclonic circulations. Moreover, they elucidate that the velocities are lower in spring and summer and higher in autumn and winter.

Abstract

Like many other Middle East countries, Iran has been suffering from severe water shortages over the last two decades, as evidenced by significant decline in surface water and groundwater levels. The observed changes in water storage can be attributed to the mutually reinforcing effects of human activities, climatic variability, and of course the climate change. The objective of this study is to analyze the dependency of atmospheric CO2 increase on the water shortage of Iran, for which we investigate the spatial relationship between water storage change and CO2 concentration using large scale satellite data. We conduct our analysis using water storage change data from GRACE satellite and atmospheric CO2 concentration from GOSAT and SCIAMACHY satellites during 2002–2015. To analyze the long-term behavior of time series we benefit from Mann-Kendal test and for the investigation of the relationship between atmospheric CO2 concentration and total water storage we use Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) and Regression model. Our Results show that the water storage change anomaly and CO2 concentration are negatively correlated especially in northern, western, southwest (Khuzestan province), and also southeast (Kerman, Hormozgan, Sistan, and Baluchestan provinces) of Iran. CCA results reveal that in the most of northern regions, the decrease in water storage is significantly influenced by the increase of CO2 concentration. The results further show that precipitation in the highland and peaks does not seem to be influenced by the long and short-term variation in CO2 concentration. Besides, our results show that the CO2 concentration is slightly correlated with a weak positive trend in evapotranspiration over agricultural areas. Thus, the indirect effect of CO2 on increasing evapotranspiration is observed spatially in the whole of Iran. The results of the regression model between total water storage change and carbon dioxide (R2 = 0.91)/water discharge/water consumption show that carbon dioxide has the highest effect on total water storage change at large scale. The results of this study will contribute to both water resource management and mitigation plans to achieve the goal of CO2 emission reduction.

Abstract

Inland satellite altimetry has gained traction over the past decade and is now routinely used to monitor the water levels of rivers, lakes and reservoirs. The accuracy of such inland water height measurements, at least from radar altimetry is still relatively poor from a geodetic viewpoint, namely in the range of several decimeter. Accuracies from spaceborne laser altimetry, in particular from the ICESat-2 mission, are at cm-level, however, and further progress in the radar altimetry domain is expected from swath-based altimetry by the SWOT mission, (to be) launched December 2022. With accuracies down to cm-level one needs to reconsider the height system definition of inland lake surfaces as obtained from satellite altimetry. Conventionally one subtracts a global geoid model from the altimetry-derived ellipsoidal height to obtain an orthometric height. Without wind stress, seiches and other time-variable height disturbances the lake water surfaces will conform to equipotential surfaces in the Earth's gravity field. Thus lake surfaces are surfaces of constant dynamic height, from which follows that a lake surface cannot be a surface of constant orthometric or normal height. Because equipotential surfaces are inherently non-parallel, two points at a lake surface can and will have different orthometric height. Although being well-understood in physical geodesy, we will here model this effect and quantify it for various case studies. We demonstrate that the effects can be as large as a few dm for large lakes at high altitudes, which is an order of magnitude that is relevant in terms of satellite altimetry error levels.

Abstract

The GRACE and GRACE-FO satellite missions provide mass variations as a fundamentally new observation type for a broad spectrum of novel applications in Earth science disciplines, including oceanography, geophysics, hydrology, and hydrometeorology. Despite all the key findings in hydrology, the utility of GRACE-derived Terrestrial Water Storage Anomaly (TWSA) and its time derivative Terrestrial Water Storage Flux (TWSF) have mainly been limited to large catchments due to their coarse spatial resolution. Here, we propose a method to downscale TWSF by incorporating available finer-resolution data. We determine the downscaled TWSF and its uncertainty within a proposed Bayesian framework by incorporating the fine-scale data of TWSF and Soil Moisture Change (SMC) from different available sources. For the Bayesian ingredients, we rely on GRACE data to obtain the prior and rely on copula models to obtain nonparametric likelihood functions based on the statistical relationship between GRACE TWSF with fine-scale TWSF data and SMC. We apply our method to the Amazon Basin and assess the performances of our products from various fine-scale input datasets of TWSFs and SMCs. Given the lack of ground truth for TWSF, we validate our results against space-based Surface Water Storage Change (SWSC) in the Amazon river system and also against the Vertical Crustal Displacements Rate (VCDR) observed by the Global Positioning System (GPS). Overall, the results show that the proposed method is able to estimate a downscaled TWSF, which is informed by GRACE and fine-scale data. Validation shows that our downscaled products are better anticorrelated with VCDR (−0.81) than fine-scale TWSF (−0.73) and show a mean relative RMSE of 26% with SWSC versus 70% for fine-scale TWSF. The proposed methodology can be extended to other coarse scale datasets, which are crucial for hydrological application at regional and local scales.

Abstract

The Congo Basin is of global significance for biodiversity and the water and carbon cycles. However, its freshwater availability and distribution remain relatively unknown. Using satellite data, here we show that currently the Congo Basin's Total Drainable Water Storage lies within a range of 476þinspacekm3 to 502þinspacekm3, unevenly distributed throughout the region, with 63\% being stored in the southernmost sub-basins, Kasaï (220--228þinspacekm3) and Lualaba (109--169þinspacekm3), while the northern sub-basins contribute only 173þinspace±þinspace8þinspacekm3. We further estimate the hydraulic time constant for draining its entire water storage to be 4.3þinspace±þinspace0.1 months, but, regionally, permanent wetlands and large lakes act as resistors resulting in greater time constants of up to 105þinspace±þinspace3 months. Our estimate provides a robust basis to address the challenges of water demand for 120 million inhabitants, a population expected to double in a few decades.

Abstract

The Hunga-Tonga eruption excited atmospheric Lamb waves that circled the globe multiple times and were recorded by barometers and broad-band seismometers of the Global Seismic Network (GSN). Their dominant period was 45 minutes with typical amplitudes of 2-3 hPa. Based on our previous work we expect that the response of horizontal seismometers at these periods is dominated by tilts due to two distinct physical mechanisms, LDT and TWT: local tilt due to warping of the seismic vault floor (LDT) in response to atmospheric pressure variations and a regional tilt (TWT) due to a lateral pressure gradient along the surface. We have inspected all the GSN recordings of the Hunga Tonga Lamb wave and only retained 21 stations with clean baro- and seismograms. We find that for any three component sensor the tilt due to vault deformation points in a fixed, sensor specific direction independent of the propagation direction of the Lamb wave. Furthermore we find that LDT is larger than TWT at 80of retained GSN stations. While accelerations can be well modelled in most cases, pressure gradient induced ground tilts point towards Hunga Tonga for only 7 stations. Curently we lack any model which would allow us to explain the observed TWT tilt directions for the remaining 14 stations as we do not think that deformations of the Lamb wave front due to wind or atmospheric temperature variations can account for the observed tilt misalignments.

Abstract

The Arctic is undergoing dramatic climate and environmental changes. The long-term alterations in river discharges from the boreal catchments, which serve as vital links between the ocean and land, are having a profound impact on various environmental factors, particularly ocean circulation and sea-ice content. However, comprehensive and continuous monitoring of Arctic river discharge at seasonal or higher temporal resolutions remains challenging. In this study, we propose a new approach to estimate runoff by generating monthly runoff time series at the basin scale. Our method is based on changes in water storage observed by the gravimetric satellites Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its follow-on mission since 2002. The method utilizes an empirical runoff-storage (R-S) relationship, offering simplicity and low computational burden while maintaining good accuracy in estimating runoff. To validate our method, we utilize in-situ runoff measurements from the seven largest boreal drainage basins spanning the period from 2002 to 2019, encompassing a total of 18 years. We divide these 18 years of observations into two phases: a training phase (8 years) and a testing phase (10 years). The results indicate that the R-S method established during the training phase yields monthly Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values ranging from 0.65 to 0.92 when compared to in-situ runoff measurements. Moreover, the method demonstrates a consistent performance in estimating runoff during the testing phase (monthly NSE: 0.67–0.84). With the exception of the Ob and Mackenzie basins, which exhibit distinct climatic conditions and hydrological networks, the R-S models are interchangeable across basins. This makes it suitable for both temporal and spatial extrapolation to fill data gaps, provided that accurate water and snow storage data are available. All in all, our method enables the reconstruction of monthly surface runoff across the entire boreal basins between 2002 and 2019. The results indicate an average annual runoff of 3200 ± 160 Gt over the study area of 1.58 × 107 km2. To evaluate the accuracy of our estimates, we compare the total runoff estimates obtained using the R-S method with those from 12 model estimates. Our estimates exhibit the highest correlation with available in-situ runoff measurements and yield monthly NSE values >0.57 for five out of the twelve model estimates. This study presents a convenient method to address the urgent need for comprehensive, continuous, and monthly temporal resolution of runoff estimates throughout the entire boreal region.

Abstract

Iran has experienced a drastic increase in water scarcity in the last decades. The main driver has been the substantial unsustainable water consumption of the agricultural sector. This study quantifies the spatiotemporal dynamics of Iran’s hydrometeorological water availability, land cover, and vegetation growth and evaluates their interrelations with a special focus on agricultural vegetation developments. It analyzes globally available reanalysis climate data and satellite time series data and products, allowing a country-wide investigation of recent 20+ years at detailed spatial and temporal scales. The results reveal a wide-spread agricultural expansion (27,000 km$$^2$$) and a significant cultivation intensification (48,000 km$$^2$$). At the same time, we observe a substantial decline in total water storage that is not represented by a decrease of meteorological water input, confirming an unsustainable use of groundwater mainly for agricultural irrigation. As consequence of water scarcity, we identify agricultural areas with a loss or reduction of vegetation growth (10,000 km$$^2$$), especially in irrigated agricultural areas under (hyper-)arid conditions. In Iran’s natural biomes, the results show declining trends in vegetation growth and land cover degradation from sparse vegetation to barren land in 40,000 km$$^2$$, mainly along the western plains and foothills of the Zagros Mountains, and at the same time wide-spread greening trends, particularly in regions of higher altitudes. Overall, the findings provide detailed insights in vegetation-related causes and consequences of Iran’s anthropogenic drought and can support sustainable management plans for Iran or other semi-arid regions worldwide, often facing similar conditions.

Abstract

Abstract European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis (ERA), one of the most widely used precipitation products, has evolved from ERA-40 to ERA-20CM, ERA-20C, ERA-Interim, and ERA5. Studies evaluating the performance of individual ERA products cannot adequately assess the evolution of the products. We compared the performance of all ERA precipitation products at daily, monthly, and annual data (1980–2018) using more than 2100 Iran precipitation gauges. Results indicated that ERA-40 performed worst, followed by ERA-20CM, which showed only minor improvements over ERA-40. ERA-20C considerably outperformed its predecessors, benefiting from the assimilation of observational data. Although several previous studies have reported full superiority of ERA5 over ERA-Interim, our results revealed several shortcomings in ERA5 compared with the ERA-Interim estimates. Both ERA-Interim and ERA5 performed best overall, with ERA-Interim showing better statistical and categorical skill scores, and ERA5 performing better in estimating extreme precipitations. These results suggest that the accuracy of ERA precipitation products has improved from ERA-40 to ERA-Interim, but not consistently from ERA-Interim to ERA5. This study employed a grid-grid comparison approach by first creating a gridded reference data set through the spatial aggregation of point source observations, however, the results from a point-grid approach showed no change in the overall ranking of products (despite the slight changes in the error index values). These findings are useful for model development at a global scale and for hydrological applications in Iran.

Abstract

Scarce water resources present a major hindrance to ensuring food security. Crop water productivity (WP), embraced as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is playing an integral role in the performance-based evaluation of agricultural systems and securing sustainable food production. This study aims at developing a cloud-based model within the Google Earth Engine (GEE) based on Landsat -7 and -8 satellite imagery to facilitate WP mapping at regional scales (30-m resolution) and analyzing the state of the water use efficiency and productivity of the agricultural sector as a means of benchmarking its WP and defining local gaps and targets at spatiotemporal scales. The model was tested in three major agricultural districts in the Lake Urmia Basin (LUB) with respect to five crop types, including irrigated wheat, rainfed wheat, apples, grapes, alfalfa, and sugar beets as the major grown crops. The actual evapotranspiration (ET) was estimated using geeSEBAL based on the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) methodology, while for crop yield estimations Monteith’s Light Use Efficiency model (LUE) was employed. The results indicate that the WP in the LUB is below its optimum targets, revealing that there is a significant degree of work necessary to ameliorate the WP in the LUB. The WP varies between 0.49–0.55 (kg/m3) for irrigated wheat, 0.27–0.34 for rainfed wheat, 1.7–2.2 for apples, 1.2–1.7 for grapes, 5.5–6.2 for sugar beets, and 0.67–1.08 for alfalfa, which could be potentially increased up to 80%, 150%, 76%, 83%, 55%, and 48%, respectively. The spatial variation of the WP and crop yield makes it feasible to detect the areas with the best and poorest on-farm practices, thereby facilitating the better targeting of resources to bridge the WP gap through water management practices. This study provides important insights into the status and potential of WP with possible worldwide applications at both farm and government levels for policymakers, practitioners, and growers to adopt effective policy guidelines and improve on-farm practices.

Abstract

Sea surface currents are often modeled using numerical models without adequately addressing the issue of model calibration at the regional scale. The aim of this study is to calibrate the MIKE 21 numerical ocean model for the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea to improve the sea surface currents obtained from the model. The calibration was performed through data assimilation of the model with altimetry and hydrographic observations using variational data assimilation, where the weights of the objective functions were defined based on the type of observations and optimized using metaheuristic optimization methods. According to the results, the calibration of the model generally led the model results closer to the observations. This was reflected in an improvement of about 0.09 m/s in the obtained sea surface currents. It also allowed for more accurate evaluations of model parameters, such as Smagorinsky and Manning coefficients. Moreover, the root mean square error values between the satellite altimetry observations at control stations and the assimilated model varied between 0.058 and 0.085 m. We further showed that the kinetic energy produced by sea surface currents could be used for generating electricity in the Oman Sea and near Jask harbor.

Abstract

Study area Iran. Study focus Iran, once a pioneer of sustainable water management, is currently facing water bankruptcy. Aggressive exhaustion of non-renewable water has led to a suite of environmental and socio-economic problems across the country. Nevertheless, the understanding of Iran’s water loss is still incomplete due to a lack of conclusive data. In this study, we employ satellite gravimetry observations, in-situ and globally precipitation data, and gauged groundwater level to investigate the total water storage (TWS) loss in Iran over the last two decades. New hydrological insights for the region We quantify Iran’s water loss using a data-driven approach supported by a Monte-Carlo simulation. Our analysis indicates TWS loss of 211 ± 34 km3 (> twice Iran’s annual water consumption) within the 2003–2019 period. The mean groundwater level has dropped significantly at a rate of − 28 ± 1.4 cm/yr. This tremendous water loss happened despite an overall increased relative precipitation rate of + 4.9 ± 0.02 km3/yr. Thus the TWS loss can only be explained by drastic overexploitation of non-renewable water resources. Two major extreme events occurred during the study period, namely the 2007 drought and early 2019 floods. The former resulted in a total 115 ± 0.6 km3 water loss, one-third of the long-term annual precipitation. Approximately the same amount was brought back by a series of extreme precipitation events leading to floods in early 2019. Our results raise critical issues regarding unsustainable water management in Iran and highlight the crucial role of spaceborne measurements for understanding short-term and long-term water availability change in the absence of sufficient ground data.

Abstract

Prevalent north--south striping (NSS) noise in the spherical harmonic coefficient products of the satellite missions gravity recovery and climate experiment greatly impedes the interpretation of signals. The overwhelming NSS noise always leads to excessive smoothing of the data, allowing a large room for improvement in the spatial resolution if this particular NSS noise can be mitigated beforehand. Here, we put forward a new spatial filter that can effectively remove NSS noise while remaining orthogonal to physical signals. This new approach overcomes the limitations of the previous method proposed by Swenson and Wahr (2006), where signal distortion was large and high-order coefficients were uncorrectable. The filter is based on autocorrelation in the longitude direction and cross-correlation in the latitude direction. The NSS-type noise identified by our method is mainly located in coefficients of spherical harmonic order larger than about 20 and degree beyond 30, spatially between latitudesþinspace±þinspace60°. After removing the dominating NSS noise with our method, a weaker filter than before is added to handle the residual noise. Thereby, the spatial resolution can be increased and the amplitude damping can be reduced. Our method can coincidentally reduce outliers in time series without significant trend bias, which underpins its effectiveness and reliability.

Abstract

Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data are a valuable source of information for estimating hydrological mass changes. Several approaches have been conducted to investigate surface density changes from satellite-based observations. The traditional approaches are mainly based on the Stokes coefficients, related to a spherical harmonic representation of the gravitational potential. This study aims to develop an alternative method to estimate the temporal variations in water storage. It is based on a specific type of mascon technique that investigates the possibility of obtaining a solution without Stokes coefficients. The method uses a piecewise constant surface density function to estimate surface density changes based on the GRACE satellite-to-satellite tracking (SST) data. The surface density changes are directly obtained from the variations in positions and velocities of the two GRACE satellites. We therefore avoid the series truncation and aim to improve the leakage problem at the price of higher numerical burden. The proposed method is numerically tested on synthetic data similar to level-1 GRACE data for a period of one month. Two regularization methods, the well-known Tikhonov solution and a method that accounts for the areas of different patches, are employed to obtain a stable solution. The accuracy assessment over the Greenland area indicates that the estimated values are reliable and statistically significant, a further confirmation of the efficacy and stability of the method.

Abstract

The forthcoming Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will vastly expand measurements of global rivers, providing critical new datasets for both gaged and ungaged basins. SWOT discharge products will provide discharge for all river reaches wider than 100 m, but at lower accuracy and temporal resolution than what is possible in situ. In this paper, we describe how SWOT discharge produced and archived by the US and French space agencies will be computed from measurements of river water surface elevation, width, and slope and ancillary data, along with expected discharge accuracy. We present here for the first time a complete estimate of SWOT discharge uncertainty budget, with separate terms for random (standard error) and systematic (bias) uncertainty components in river discharge timeseries. We expect that discharge uncertainty will be less than 30% for two thirds of global reaches and will be dominated by bias. Separate river discharge estimates will combine both SWOT and in situ data; these “gage constrained” discharge estimates can be expected to have lower systematic uncertainty. Temporal variations in river discharge timeseries will be dominated by random error and are expected to be estimated to within 15% for nearly all reaches, allowing accurate inference of event flow dynamics globally, including in ungaged basins. We believe this level of accuracy lays the groundwork for SWOT to enable breakthroughs in global hydrologic science.

Abstract

Abstract The number of active gauges with open-data policy for discharge monitoring along rivers has decreased over the last decades. Therefore, spaceborne measurements are investigated as alternatives. Among different techniques for estimating river discharge from space, developing a rating curve between the ground-based discharge and spaceborne river water level or width is the most straightforward one. However, this does not always lead to successful results, since the river section morphology often cannot simply be modeled by a limited number of parameters. Moreover, such methods do not deliver a proper estimation of the discharge’s uncertainty as a result of the mismodeling and also the coarse assumptions made for the uncertainty of inputs. Here we propose a nonparametric model for estimating river discharge and its uncertainty from spaceborne river width measurements. The model employs a stochastic quantile mapping scheme by, iteratively: 1) generating realizations of river discharge and width time series using Monte Carlo simulation, 2) obtaining a collection of quantile mapping functions by matching all possible permutations of simulated river discharge and width quantile functions, 3) adjusting the measurement uncertainties according to the point cloud scatter. We validate our method over 14 different river reaches along the Niger, Congo, Po rivers and several river reaches in the Mississippi river basin. Our results show that the proposed algorithm can mitigate the effect of measurement noise and also possible mismodelling. Moreover, the proposed algorithm delivers a meaningful uncertainty for the estimated discharge and allows us to calibrate the error bars of in situ discharge measurements.

Abstract

Because of the lack of direct seismic observations, the interior structure of Mars has been a mystery. Khan et al., Knapmeyer-Endrun et al., and Stähler et al. used recently detected marsquakes from the seismometer deployed during the InSight mission to map the interior of Mars (see the Perspective by Cottaar and Koelemeijer). Mars likely has a 24- to 72-kilometer-thick crust with a very deep lithosphere close to 500 kilometers. Similar to the Earth, a low-velocity layer probably exists beneath the lithosphere. The crust of Mars is likely highly enriched in radioactive elements that help to heat this layer at the expense of the interior. The core of Mars is liquid and large, \~1830 kilometers, which means that the mantle has only one rocky layer rather than two like the Earth has. These results provide a preliminary structure of Mars that helps to constrain the different theories explaining the chemistry and internal dynamics of the planet.Science, abf2966, abf8966, abi7730, this issue p. 434, p. 438, p. 443 see also abj8914, p. 388For 2 years, the InSight lander has been recording seismic data on Mars that are vital to constrain the structure and thermochemical state of the planet. We used observations of direct (P and S) and surface-reflected (PP, PPP, SS, and SSS) body-wave phases from eight low-frequency marsquakes to constrain the interior structure to a depth of 800 kilometers. We found a structure compatible with a low-velocity zone associated with a thermal lithosphere much thicker than on Earth that is possibly related to a weak S-wave shadow zone at teleseismic distances. By combining the seismic constraints with geodynamic models, we predict that, relative to the primitive mantle, the crust is more enriched in heat-producing elements by a factor of 13 to 20. This enrichment is greater than suggested by gamma-ray surface mapping and has a moderate-to-elevated surface heat flow.

Abstract

A harmonic scalar field has a Laplacian (i.e., both source-free and curl-free) gradient vector field and vice versa. Despite the good performance of spherical harmonic series on modeling the gravitational field generated by spheroidal bodies (e.g., the Earth), the series may diverge inside the Brillouin sphere enclosing all field-generating mass. Divergence may realistically occur when determining the gravitational fields of asteroids or comets that have complex shapes, which is known as the complex-boundary value problem (CBVP). To overcome this weakness, we propose a new spatial-domain numerical method based on the equivalence transformation which is well known in the fluid dynamics community: a potential-flow velocity field and a gravitational force vector field are equivalent in a mathematical sense, both referring to a Laplacian vector field. The new method abandons the perturbation theory based on the Laplace equation, and, instead, derives the governing equation and the boundary condition of the potential flow from the conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy. Correspondingly, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques are introduced as a numerical solving scheme. We apply this novel approach to the gravitational field of the comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko which has an irregular shape. The method is validated in a closed-loop simulation by comparing the result with a direct integration of Newton's formula. Both methods are consistent with a relative magnitude discrepancy at the percentage level and with a small directional difference root-mean-square value of \$\$0.78^\\backslashcirc \\$\$. Moreover, the Laplacian property of the potential flow's velocity field is proved mathematically. From both theoretical and practical points of view, the new numerical method is able to overcome the divergence problem and, hence, has a good potential for solving CBVPs.

Abstract

In this paper, the three kind of solutions of TLS problem, the common solution by singular value decomposition (SVD), the iteration solution and Partial-EIV model are firstly reviewed with respect to their advantages and disadvantages. Then a newly developed Converted Total Least Squares (CTLS) dealing with the errors-in-variables (EIV) model is introduced. The basic idea of CTLS has been proposed by the authors in 2010, which is to take the stochastic design matrix elements as virtual observations, and to transform the TLS problem into a traditional Least Squares problem. This new method has the advantages that it cannot only easily consider the weight of observations and the weight of stochastic design matrix, but also deal with TLS problem without complicated iteration processing, if the suitable approximates of parameters are available, which enriches the TLS algorithm and solves the bottleneck restricting the application of TLS solutions. CTLS method, together with all the three TLS models reviewed here has been successfully integrated in our coordinate transformation programs and verified with the real case study of 6-parameters Affine coordinate transformation. Furthermore, the comparison and connection of this notable CLTS method and estimation of Gauss-Helmert model are also discussed in detail with applications of coordinate transformations.

Abstract

Abstract Mars atmospheric pressure variations induce ground displacements through elastic deformations. The various sensors of the InSight mission were designed in order to be able to understand and correct for these ground deformations induced by atmospheric effects. Particular efforts were made, on one hand, to avoid direct pressure and wind effects on the seismometer and, on the other hand, to have a high performance pressure sensor operating in the same frequency range as the seismometer. As a consequence of these technical achievements and the low background seismic noise of Mars, the InSight mission is opening a new science domain in which the ground displacements can be used to perform atmospheric science. This study presents an analysis of pressure and seismic signals and the relations between them. After a short description of the pressure and seismic sensors, we present an analysis of these signals as a function of local time at the InSight location. Then the coherent signals recorded by both pressure and seismic sensors are described and interpreted in terms of atmospheric signals and ground deformation processes. Two different methods to remove the pressure effects recorded by SEIS sensors are presented, and their efficiency is estimated and compared. These decorrelation methods allow the pressure generated noise to be reduced by a factor of 2 during the active day time period. Finally, an analysis of SEIS signals induced by gravity waves demonstrates the interest of ground displacement measurements to characterize their arrival azimuth.

Abstract

Abstract Measurements of ground compliance at the InSight landing site—describing the surface response to pressure loading—are obtained from seismic and meteorological data. Compliance observations show an increase with frequency indicating the presence of a stiffer rock layer beneath the exposed regolith. We performed a Markov chain Monte Carlo inversion to investigate the vertical profile of the elastic parameters down to 20 m below InSight. Compliance was inverted both freely and assuming prior knowledge of compaction in the regolith, and the limitations and strengths of the methods were assessed on the basis of theoretical considerations and synthetic tests. The inverted Young modulus exhibits an increase by a factor of 10–100 over the first 10–15 m, compatible with a structural discontinuity between 0.7 and 7 m. The proposed scheme can be used for joint inversion of other seismic, geological, or mechanical constraints to refine the resulting vertical section.

Abstract

Abstract Since landing on Mars, the NASA InSight lander has witnessed 8 Phobos and one Deimos transits. All transits could be observed by a drop in the solar array current and the surface temperature, but more surprisingly, for several ones, a clear signature was recorded with the seismic sensors and the magnetometer. We present a preliminary interpretation of the seismometer data as temperature induced local deformation of the ground, supported by terrestrial analog experiments and finite-element modelling. The magnetic signature is most likely induced by changing currents from the solar arrays. While the observations are not fully understood yet, the recording of transit-related phenomena with high sampling rate will allow more precise measurements of the transit times, thus providing additional constraints for the orbital parameters of Phobos. The response of the seismometer can potentially also be used to constrain the thermo-elastic properties of the shallow regolith at the landing site.

Abstract

The Bakhtegan catchment, an important agricultural region in south-western Iran, has suffered groundwater depletion in recent years. As groundwater is considered the main source of fresh water in the catchment, especially for agriculture, monitoring groundwater responses to irrigation is important. Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data can help determine water mass changes in catchments and assess water volume changes. In this study, we compared GRACE-derived water mass data against groundwater volume variations measured in situ. We also assessed the efficiency of GRACE-derived data in catchments smaller than the 200,000 km2 recommended area when using GRACE. For the study period (January 2002 through December 2011), the GRACE data showed a 7.6 mm annual decline in groundwater level, with a total volume loss of 2.6 km3 during the period. The in situ monthly measurements of groundwater level showed an average depletion of 10 m in catchment aquifers during the study period. This depletion rate was supported by the recorded decrease in precipitation volume, especially in the post-drought period after 2007. These results demonstrate that GRACE can be useful tool for monitoring groundwater depletion in arid catchments.

Abstract

By combining long-term ground-based data on water withdrawal with climate model projections, this study quantifies the compounding effects of human activities and climate change on surface water availability in Iran over the twenty-first century. Our findings show that increasing water withdrawal in Iran, due to population growth and increased agricultural activities, has been the main source of historical water stress. Increased levels of water stress across Iran are expected to continue or even worsen over the next decades due to projected variability and change in precipitation combined with heightened water withdrawals due to increasing population and socio-economic activities. The greatest rate of decreased water storage is expected in the Urmia Basin, northwest of Iran, (varying from \$\backslash$textasciitilde\ −\$\backslash$thinspace\8.3 mm/year in 2010--2039 to \$\backslash$textasciitilde\ −\$\backslash$thinspace\61.6 mm/year in 2070--2099 compared with an observed rate of 4 mm/year in 1976--2005). Human activities, however, strongly dominate the effects of precipitation variability and change. Major shifts toward sustainable land and water management are needed to reduce the impacts of water scarcity in the future, particularly in Iran's heavily stressed basins like Urmia Basin, which feeds the shrinking Lake Urmia.

Abstract

Although total storage deficit index (TSDI) is a well-known GRACE-based drought index, it is not efficient for the basins with high consumption because water harvesting in these areas affect GRACE signal. To overcome this limitation, the modified total storage deficit index (MTSDI) is introduced in this paper. To develop MTSDI, residuals of the signal were used instead of total signal. The proposed approach was applied to monitor drought in the Markazi Basin, Iran, during 2002–2016. Based on the obtained results, TSDI detected a moderate drought event in 2012 and a long-term severe drought from 2013 to 2016, which is not compatible with the recorded results of standardized precipitation index (SPI), Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Meanwhile MTSDI identified two drought events in 2008–09 and 2010–11 that coincided with droughts detected using SPI and SPEI. Results revealed that MTSDI is highly correlated with SPI and SPEI at a 12 month-scale, showing a correlation coefficient of 0.75 and 0.62, respectively. On the other hand, the coefficient of correlation between TSDI and SPI12 was 0.42 and between TSDI and SPEI12 was 0.26. A pixel-by-pixel analysis showed MTSDI and SPI/SPEI had a significant correlation in most areas of the basin. Further, the investigation of droughts in Markazi Basin revealed that dry years coincide with the occurrence of strong La Niña events. Overall, the results indicated a good potential of GRACE observations for developing a drought monitoring system, which its performance can be enhanced with respect to large-scale climate signals.

Abstract

The InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) mission is the first Mars lander to place an ultra-sensitive broadband seismometer on the planet's surface. About a meter away from the seismometer, a Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) experiment hammered a probe into the Martian subsurface to measure the heat coming from Mars' interior and reveal the planet's thermal history. The probe, which uses a self-hammering mechanism, generated thousands of seismic signals that can be used to study the shallow subsurface and shed new light on the mechanical properties of Martian regolith. While the mission's science objectives focus on planetary-scale seismic and tectonic processes and their implications to rocky planet formation, the proximity of a repeating hammer source to a sensitive seismometer presents a unique opportunity to carry out the first geotechnical study of the shallow Martian subsurface. The HP3 mole hammering mechanism produced distinct seismic signals, but using these signals for a geotechnical seismic profiling presents several challenges: The InSight Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) requires 100 samples-per-second data that results in under-sampling the HP3 Although each HP3 penetration so far produced over nine thousand hammer strokes, the \char1264 s interval between them varies slightly depending on the regolith properties and on the temperature of the mole. A second stroke, \char1260.06s following the initial stroke, also varies in time, likely obscures a reflection from an anticipated basalt layer several meters below the surface at the InSight landing site. To overcome these difficulties the analysis took advantage of the variation in the interval between strokes, and the repeatability of the signal, which varies extremely slowly between strokes, to reconstruct the signal and recover information above the nominal Nyquist frequency. Combined with careful synchronization of the seismometer and the heat-probe, and use of the probe's internal tiltmeter timing information to determine source timing, we were able to determine travel-times and apparent P-wave velocities in the top meter of the regolith layer. Regolith layer thickness was inferred from auxiliary measurements and analysis of the oscillations excited by the hammer in the regolith layer, which overlays a faster brecciated basalt layer. We will present a comprehensive description of the experiment, including terrestrial analogue preparations, data, analysis methodologies, and interpretation.

Abstract

By the end of 2018, 42 years after the landing of the two Viking seismometers on Mars, InSight will deploy onto Mars’ surface the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure) instrument; a six-axes seismometer equipped with both a long-period three-axes Very Broad Band (VBB) instrument and a three-axes short-period (SP) instrument. These six sensors will cover a broad range of the seismic bandwidth, from 0.01 Hz to 50 Hz, with possible extension to longer periods. Data will be transmitted in the form of three continuous VBB components at 2 sample per second (sps), an estimation of the short period energy content from the SP at 1 sps and a continuous compound VBB/SP vertical axis at 10 sps. The continuous streams will be augmented by requested event data with sample rates from 20 to 100 sps. SEIS will improve upon the existing resolution of Viking’s Mars seismic monitoring by a factor of ∼ 2500 at 1 Hz and ∼ 200000 at 0.1 Hz. An additional major improvement is that, contrary to Viking, the seismometers will be deployed via a robotic arm directly onto Mars’ surface and will be protected against temperature and wind by highly efficient thermal and wind shielding. Based on existing knowledge of Mars, it is reasonable to infer a moment magnitude detection threshold of M w ∼ 3 at 40 ◦ epicentral distance and a potential to detect several tens of quakes and about five impacts per year. In this paper, we first describe the science goals of the experiment and the rationale used to define its requirements. We then provide a detailed description of the hardware, from the sensors to the deployment system and associated performance, including transfer functions of the seismic sensors and temperature sensors. We conclude by describing the experiment ground segment, including data processing services, outreach and education networks and provide a description of the format to be used for future data distribution.

Abstract

Station noise levels play a fundamental limitation in our ability to detect seismic signals. These noise levels are frequency-dependent and arise from a number of physically different drivers. At periods greater than 100 s, station noise levels are often limited by the self-noise of the instrument as well as the sensitivity of the instrument to non-seismic noise sources. Recently, station operators in the Global Seismographic Network (GSN) have deployed several Streckeisen STS-6A very broad-band borehole seismometers. These sensors provide a potential replacement for the no-longer-produced Streckeisen STS-1 seismometer and the GeoTech KS-54 000 borehole seismometer. Along with showing some of the initial observational improvements from installing modern very broad-band seismometers at depth, we look at current limitations in the seismic resolution from earth tide periods 100 000 s (0.01 mHz) to Nyquist at most GSN sites (0.02 s or 50 Hz). Finally, we show the potential for improved observations of continuously excited horizontal Earth hum as well as the splitting of very long-period torsional modes. Both of these observations make use of the low horizontal noise levels which are obtained by installing very broad-band borehole seismometers at depth.

Abstract

We study a space-based gravity gradiometer based on cold atom interferometry and its potential for the Earth's gravitational field mapping. The instrument architecture has been proposed in Carraz et al., Microgravity Science and Technology 26, 139 (2014) and enables high-sensitivity measurements of gravity gradients by using atom interferometers in a differential accelerometer configuration. We present the design of the instrument including its subsystems and analyze the mission scenario, for which we derive the expected instrument performances, the requirements on the sensor and its key subsystems, and the expected impact on the recovery of the Earth gravity field.

Abstract

Abstract The mechanisms of unusual shallow intraplate earthquakes that occasionally occur in stable cratons remain poorly understood. Here we analyze coseismic and postseismic displacement fields associated with the 2016 Petermann Ranges earthquake in central Australia using interferometric synthetic aperture radar data. The earthquake ruptured a previously unmapped fault and was dominated by thrust slip motion of up to 95 cm within the top 3 km of the crust. Postseismic deformation analysis suggests that a combination of poroelastic rebound and afterslip are responsible for the observed signals. The inferred afterslip overlapping spatially with the coseismic rupture highlights that the postseismic slip is coupled with the pore fluid flow around the fault zones. Analysis of historic groundwater-level changes suggests that shallow seismicity around the Petermann Ranges may have been triggered by environmental stress perturbations due to the fluctuations of groundwater level; however, it is not easy to document statistical significance of this correlation.

Abstract

Abstract We use Sentinel-1 radar imagery to explore the coseismic and postseismic surface displacements associated with the 2016 MW 6.2 Lampa earthquake in southern Peru. Based on coseismic interferograms, the preferred slip model links to a blind south southeast striking, south southwest dipping normal fault with a shallow dip (45.2°) and a peak slip of 0.71 m at depth ~5.3 km, which is consistent with seismic solutions. Postseismic interferograms, derived from two tracks of the Sentinel-1A/B satellites using a small baseline subset method, show subsidence up to ~3 cm in the first year after the mainshock. The kinematic inversions of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) observations imply that the postseismic surface displacements observed in 1 year after the earthquake are governed by afterslip occurring along the updip extension of the coseismic slip patches. To further improve the data fitting, we generate a fault with variable strike to refine the kinematic afterslip model. The stress-driven afterslip forward modeling shows that the postseismic deformation is controlled by afterslip distributed at the edge of the compact coseismic slip area. The surface displacement predictions of the poroelastic rebound show subsidence of the hanging wall, but the magnitude of the displacements is small compared to the observed signal. We as well test a collection of viscoelastic relaxation models and find that the predicted surface displacements are not consistent with the observations. The InSAR results show that the strike of the seismogenic fault is quasi-parallel to the Vilcanota normal fault system and both the fault associated with earthquake and Vilcanota normal fault dip in the same direction. Therefore, we suspect that the causative fault of this 2016 event may be a normal fault belonging to a “domino” faulting system.

Abstract

\textlessp\textgreater\textlessstrong\textgreaterAbstract.\textless/strong\textgreater The Bakhtegan catchment, an important agricultural region in south-western Iran, has suffered groundwater depletion in recent years. As groundwater is considered the main source of fresh water in the catchment, especially for agriculture, monitoring groundwater responses to irrigation is important. Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data can help determine water mass changes in catchments and assess water volume changes, but have been under-used to date in water resources management. In this study, we compared GRACE-derived water mass data against groundwater volume variations measured in situ. We also assessed the efficiency of GRACE-derived data in catchments smaller than the 200,000 km\textlesssup\textgreater2\textless/sup\textgreater recommended area when using GRACE. For the study period (January 2002 through December 2011), the GRACE data showed a 7.6 mm annual decline in groundwater level, with a total volume loss of 2.6 km\textlesssup\textgreater3\textless/sup\textgreater during the period. The in situ monthly measurements of groundwater level showed an average depletion of 10 m in catchment aquifers during the study period. This depletion rate was supported by the recorded decrease in precipitation volume, especially in the post-drought period after 2007. These results demonstrate that GRACE can be useful in groundwater resources management of catchments facing groundwater depletion and increasing water demand.\textless/p\textgreater

Abstract

© 2018 COSPAR. Tropospheric correction is one of the most important corrections in satellite altimetry measurements. Tropospheric wet and dry path delays have strong dependence on temperature, pressure and humidity. Tropospheric layer has particularly high variability over coastal regions due to humidity, wind and temperature gradients. Depending on the extent of water body and wind conditions over an inland water, Wet Tropospheric Correction (WTC) is within the ranges from a few centimeters to tens of centimeters. Therefore, an extra care is needed to estimate tropospheric corrections on the altimetric measurements over inland waters. This study assesses the role of tropospheric correction on the altimetric measurements over the Urmia Lake in Iran. For this purpose, four types of tropospheric corrections have been used: (i) microwave radiometer (MWR) observations, (ii) tropospheric corrections computed from meteorological models, (iii) GPS observations and (iv) synoptic station data. They have been applied to Jason-2 track no. 133 and SARAL/AltiKa track no. 741 and 356 corresponding to 117-153 and the 23-34 cycles, respectively. In addition, the corresponding measurements of PISTACH and PEACHI, include new retracking method and an innovative wet tropospheric correction, have also been used. Our results show that GPS observation leads to the most accurate tropospheric correction. The results obtained from the PISTACH and PEACHI projects confirm those obtained with the standard SGDR, i.e., the role of GPS in improving the tropospheric corrections. It is inferred that the MWR data from Jason-2 mission is appropriate for the tropospheric corrections, however the SARAL/AltiKa one is not proper because Jason-2 possesses an enhanced WTC near the coast. Furthermore, virtual stations are defined for assessment of the results in terms of time series of Water Level Height (WLH). The results show that GPS tropospheric corrections lead to the most accurate WLH estimation for the selected virtual stations, which improves the accuracy of the obtained WLH time series by about 5\%.

Abstract

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group In this study, a waveform retracking algorithm based on finding the inflection-point of the waveform is proposed. After two-steps pre-processing procedure, we employ this method for 145 cycles of Jason-2 data for two tracks 81 and 16 over the Strait of Hormuz. Moreover, we obtain the corrected SSH by the common empirical methods namely Offset Centre of Gravity, Beta and Threshold as well as the ALES. We compare the SSH time series from proposed algorithm with those from common empirical methods. Results are validated against three nearby tide-gauges in the case study. The correlation coefficient and RMSE between the corrected SSH and tide-gages data were computed for three distance classes from the coastline: 0∼5, 5∼10 and 10∼15 kilometer. Our method improves the averaged RMSE of raw SSH up to 41\%, 41\% and 24\%, for these classes over track 81 and 51\%, 38\% and 41\% over track 16, respectively. The averaged correlation values of the proposed method indicate 33\%, 11\% and 2\% improvement over track 81 and are 29\%, 14\% and 3\% over track 16 for three distance groups, respectively. Our method leads to slightly better results than the successful ALES method, especially within the range of 0∼5 km.

Abstract

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016. Ocean tides cause notable aliasing errors in the gravity field from single pair space-borne gravimetry missions like GRACE. Several studies into future gravity missions have shown that constellations with two or more GRACE-like tandems lead to a significant reduction of aliasing error from all kinds of high-frequency signal sources. Despite such reduction, tidal aliasing will remain an error source. We here investigate the efficiency of tidal error de-aliasing in the post-processing mode for such future double-pair missions. To that purpose, we analyze how a certain satellite mission samples each tidal constituent. Given the repeat orbit patterns and the observation time span, we examine and model the alias periods and amplitudes constituent by constituent based on data-driven analysis. Results show that a double-pair formation has indeed better de-aliasing properties than a single-pair formation in terms of distribution and amplitude of ocean tide aliasing error. After least-squares (LS) spectral estimation of the tidal aliases at the derived alias periods, the aliasing error is reduced significantly.

Abstract

Sensor-based weed mapping in arable fields is a key element for site-specific herbicide management strategies. In this study, we investigated the generation of application maps based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle imagery and present a site-specific herbicide application using those maps. Field trials for site-specific herbicide applications and multi-temporal image flights were carried out in maize ( Zea mays L.) and sugar beet ( Beta vulgaris L.) in southern Germany. Real-time kinematic Global Positioning System precision planting information provided the input for determining plant rows in the geocoded aerial images. Vegetation indices combined with generated plant height data were used to detect the patches containing creeping thistle ( Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.) and curled dock ( Rumex crispus L.). The computed weed maps showed the presence or absence of the aforementioned weeds on the fields, clustered to 9 m × 9 m grid cells. The precision of the correct classification varied from 96% in maize to 80% in the last sugar beet treatment. The computational underestimation of manual mapped C. arvense and R. cripus patches varied from 1% to 10% respectively. Overall, the developed algorithm performed well, identifying tall perennial weeds for the computation of large-scale herbicide application maps.

Abstract

Eine mehrtägige parallele Schwereregistrierung mit zehn Scintrex-CG-5-Gravimetern wurde 2013 auf einem Messpfeiler der gravimetrischen Referenzstation Bad Homburg durchgeführt, um Unterschiede im Messverhalten individueller Gravimetersensoren herauszufinden. Als Referenz stand ein parallel messendes Supraleitgravimeter des Bundesamts für Kartographie und Geodäsie (BKG) zur Verfügung. Bei den individuellen Sensoren des gleichen Scintrex-Bautyps wurden lineare und vereinzelt auch quadratische Standdriften ermittelt und die individuellen Driften als Folge der vorangegangenen Transporte und der instrumentellen Anpassungen an die stationären Bedingungen sichtbar. Ein instrumententypisches Einlaufverhalten in der Neigung und der Sensortemperatur konnte festgestellt werden. Eine vergleichende Analyse mit Allan-Varianz und Wavelet-Diagramm aller geprüften Instrumente lässt Rückschlüsse auf die Qualität der Sensoren und deren Eignung für präzise Schweremessungen zu.

Abstract

In November 2018, for the first time a dedicated geophysical station, the InSight lander, will be deployed on the surface of Mars. Along with the two main geophysical packages, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) and the Heat-Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), the InSight lander holds a highly sensitive pressure sensor (PS) and the Temperature and Winds for InSight (TWINS) instrument, both of which (along with the InSight FluxGate (IFG) Magnetometer) form the Auxiliary Sensor Payload Suite (APSS). Associated with the RADiometer (RAD) instrument which will measure the surface brightness temperature, and the Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) which will be used to quantify atmospheric opacity, this will make InSight capable to act as a meteorological station at the surface of Mars. While probing the internal structure of Mars is the primary scientific goal of the mission, atmospheric science remains a key science objective for InSight. InSight has the potential to provide a more continuous and higher-frequency record of pressure, air temperature and winds at the surface of Mars than previous in situ missions. In the paper, key results from multiscale meteorological modeling, from Global Climate Models to Large-Eddy Simulations, are described as a reference for future studies based on the InSight measurements during operations. We summarize the capabilities of InSight for atmospheric observations, from profiling during Entry, Descent and Landing to surface measurements (pressure, temperature, winds, angular momentum), and the plans for how InSight's sensors will be used during operations, as well as possible synergies with orbital observations. In a dedicated section, we describe the seismic impact of atmospheric phenomena (from the point of view of both ``noise'' to be decorrelated from the seismic signal and ``signal'' to provide information on atmospheric processes). We discuss in this framework Planetary Boundary Layer turbulence, with a focus on convective vortices and dust devils, gravity waves (with idealized modeling), and large-scale circulations. Our paper also presents possible new, exploratory, studies with the InSight instrumentation: surface layer scaling and exploration of the Monin-Obukhov model, aeolian surface changes and saltation / lifing studies, and monitoring of secular pressure changes. The InSight mission will be instrumental in broadening the knowledge of the Martian atmosphere, with a unique set of measurements from the surface of Mars.

Abstract

Temporal gravimetry is an efficient tool for monitoring mass transfers, but distinguishing the contribution of each process to the measured signals is challenging. Few effective methods have been developed to estimate the changes in gravity caused by crustal strain for large-scale geophysical problems. To fill this research gap, we proposed a formula that describes a negative linear correlation between changes in gravity and crustal dilatational strain. Surface observations of gravity changes and dilatational strains were simulated using PSGRN/PSCMP, which is a numerical code used to calculate the surface response to fault dislocations, and the accuracy of the formula was quantitatively verified. Four parameters are required for this formula: the crustal dilatational strain, the crustal density, the Moho depth, and a coefficient that characterizes the degree of crust-mantle coupling. To illustrate the application of this new method to a natural case study, including specifying the values of the necessary parameters, the crustal strain-caused gravity changes (CSGCs) were calculated at 1° × 1° grid nodes over the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The CSGC model shows that most of the crust of the TP is undergoing extension, which generates negative gravity signals. The magnitude of the Tibetan CSGC model is approximately 0.2 μGal yr−1, which is similar to the results obtained from numerical modelling of the crustal tectonics of the Taiwanese Orogen. To evaluate the reliability of the Tibetan CSGC model, the uncertainties in the crustal dilatational strain, crustal density, Moho depth, and crust-mantle coupling factor were evaluated and then used to estimate the CSGC uncertainty by applying the error propagation law. The CSGC model was used to analyse the mass transfers of the TP. The results suggest that a significant mass accumulation process may be occurring beneath the crust of the northern TP.

Abstract

Planar faults are widely adopted during inversions to determine slip distributions and fault geometries using geodetic observations; however, little research has been conducted with respect to curved faults. We attribute this to the lack of an appropriate parameterized modelling method. In this paper, we present a curved-fault modelling method (CFMM) that describes a curved fault according to specific parameters, and we also develop a corresponding hybrid iterative inversion algorithm (HIIA) to perform inversions for parametric curved-fault geometries and slips. The results of the strike-component and dip-component synthetic tests show that a complex S-shaped fault surface and a circular slip distribution are successfully recovered, indicating the strong performance of the CFMM and HIIA methods. In addition, we describe and verify a scenario for determining the number of necessary geometrical parameters for the HIIA and examine the case study of the Wenchuan earthquake, which occurred on a complex listric fault surface. During the iteration process of the HIIA, both the fault geometry and slip distribution of the Beichuan and Pengguan faults converge to optimal values, indicating a Beichuan fault (BCF) model with a continuous listric shape and gradual steepening from the southwest to the northeast, which is highly consistent with geological survey results. Both the synthetic and real-world case studies show that the HIIA and the CMFF are superior to the conventional fault modelling method based on rectangular planes and that these models have the potential for use in more integrated research involving inversion studies, such as joint slip/curved-fault-geometry inversions that take into account data resolving power.

Abstract

Gravimeter records of three recent megathrust earthquakes are used to investigate the splitting of the fundamental spheroidal mode 0S2. Benefiting from recent improvements in the design and performance of superconducting gravimeters and using multitapers for the spectral analysis we obtain singlet frequencies with smaller and more robust error bars than previous studies. Based on forward modelling experiments we can show that the errors of the singlet frequencies are small enough to enable discrimination between physically plausible 3-D density models. We present an estimate of the rotational splitting parameter of 0S2, which provides a linear integral constraint on the spherically symmetric mass density distribution much like the Earth's mass or the Earth's moment of inertia do and whose relative error is smaller than that of the Earth's mass.