Work

Deciphering the Role of Total Water Storage Anomalies in Mediating Regional Flooding

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Regional floods result from various flood generation mechanisms. Traditional analyses mainly link flooding to extreme rainfall, with limited input from soil moisture. Total water storage (TWS) is a holistic measure of basin wetness, including additional storage components from surface water, snow, and groundwater. Utilizing a new 5‐day Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and its Follow On (GRACE(‐FO)) data set, we investigated the linkage between short‐term TWS anomaly (TWSA) and regional flooding. The 5‐day TWSA solutions revealed flood signals missed by monthly TWSA solutions. Global basins exhibit distinct storage‐discharge co‐evolution patterns, offering new insights into flood mechanisms and propensity. Our bivariate event analyses show the annual maximum river discharges co‐occur more often with the TWSA maxima than with precipitation in many basins. Further analyses revealed TWSA's time‐lagged effect on river discharge, particularly in basins susceptible to floods triggered by saturation‐excess runoff. The 5‐day TWSA provides a new source of information for enhancing global flood preparedness.

Source: Geophysical Research Letters

DOI: 10.1029/2023gl108126

Authors: Alexander Y. Sun, Himanshu Save, Ashraf Rateb, Peishi Jiang, Bridget R. Scanlon

Institutions: Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Language: English

Topic: Geophysics and Gravity Measurements

Subfield: Oceanography

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Clean water and sanitation

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,900