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Estimating profile soil moisture and groundwater variations using GRACE and Oklahoma Mesonet soil moisture data
Author(s) -
Swenson Sean,
Famiglietti James,
Basara Jeffrey,
Wahr John
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2007wr006057
Subject(s) - environmental science , water content , groundwater , hydrology (agriculture) , moisture , atmospheric sciences , soil science , geology , meteorology , geography , geotechnical engineering
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 km 2 in area. Results are compared to observed well level data from a larger surrounding region, and show consistent phase and relative inter‐annual variability.