HR: 0800h
AN: H21D-1375    [Abstracts]
TI: Amazon and Mississippi River Basin Discharge Estimated From GRACE and a Land-Atmosphere Water Balance
AU: * Syed, T H
EM: tsyed@uci.edu
AF: Dept. of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 United States
AU: Famiglietti, J S
EM: jfamigli@uci.edu
AF: Dept. of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 United States
AU: Chen, J
EM: chen@csr.utexas.edu
AF: Center for Space Research, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78759 United States
AU: Rodell, M
EM: Matthew.Rodell@nasa.gov
AF: Hydrological Sciences Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Seneviratne, S I
EM: sonia.seneviratne@env.ethz.ch
AF: Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, CH-8057 Switzerland
AU: Viterbo, P
EM: p.viterbo@ecmwf.int
AF: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Shinfield Park,Reading, Berkshire, RG2 9AX United Kingdom
AU: Wilson, C R
EM: clarkw@maestro.geo.utexas.edu
AF: Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712 United States
AB: Monitoring global freshwater discharge is critical to understanding a range of climatologic, geomorphologic, hydrologic and ecologic Earth system processes. However, no comprehensive global streamflow observing network for the world's major continental watersheds currently exists. Here we propose a method for estimating monthly basin discharge for large river basins based on the use of new GRACE estimates of terrestrial water storage changes in a coupled land-atmosphere water balance. The method was tested on the Amazon and Mississippi river basins, and could ultimately be applied to the major drainage regions and river basins of the globe. Results for both basins were encouraging. Using GRACE land water storage changes (which include changes in groundwater storage) in the water balance method may result in more holistic estimates of basin discharge that include not only streamflow, but the net of surface, groundwater and tidal inflows and outflows.
DE: 1217 Time variable gravity (7223, 7230)
DE: 1836 Hydrological cycles and budgets (1218, 1655)
DE: 1840 Hydrometeorology
DE: 1860 Streamflow
DE: 1876 Water budgets
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005