The view of Earth’s water is shifting from scattered snapshots to a connected picture of the entire system.
Rebecca Peters, Earth Action Lead at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, says stronger computing power and sharper satellite observations are allowing scientists to examine how rainfall, groundwater, soil moisture, rivers, and reservoirs interact.
The scale and frequency of the observations are striking. NASA-supported data can estimate rainfall and snowfall around the world every 30 minutes, while the SWOT satellite surveys surface water across at least 90 percent of the globe.
Those measurements become more useful when combined. Instead of examining a rain gauge, groundwater well, or reservoir reading in isolation, scientists can integrate multiple datasets and models to trace how water moves across the landscape and changes over time.
In some cases, Peters says, the emerging picture can reach the scale of individual reservoirs. That could give water managers a stronger basis for tracking supplies, anticipating drought and flood conditions, and deciding when to store, release, or conserve water.
Episode at https://www.waterloop.org/turning-nasa-data-into-action/
From a conversation at the Reservoir Center for Water Solutions
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