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Integrating Enhanced GRACE Water Storage into the U.S. and North American Drought Monitors
Investigators: M. Rodell (PI, NASA/GSFC), J. Lawrimore, J.S. Famiglietti, R. Heim, R. Reichle, M. Svoboda, B. Wardlow, B.F.
Zaitchik, A. Pinheiro
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Abstract
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Problem Statement: Current drought monitoring products are highly reliant on precipitation indices and
generally lack groundwater and soil moisture data inputs. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)
provides the first satellite based estimates of changes in total terrestrial water storage (TWS): all the water from the
top of the canopy to the base of the deepest aquifer, which could be valuable for continental to global scale drought
monitoring, however, the spatial and temporal resolutions of GRACE data are low.
Approach: We are merging GRACE data with other observations within a land data assimilation system (LDAS),
using an Ensemble Kalman Smoother data assimilation scheme. This enables spatial and temporal downscaling and
vertical disaggregation of the GRACE data. The results will be incorporated into the objective blends, which are
the basis for the US and North American Drought Monitor products.
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NASA Products
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), Model - LDAS/LIS
Project Partners
Multi-Agency (led by NOAA) U.S. Drought Monitor
Decision Support Tools
The Drought Monitor
provides a weekly overview of where in the United States drought is emerging, lingering,
subsiding or forecast. The Monitor is produced jointly by the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction
Center, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
Reports
