National Aeronautics and Space Administration

TERRESTRIAL WATER STORAGE

Terrestrial water storage (TWS) is an important component of the global water cycle. Accurate knowledge of TWS is critically important for drought monitoring and forecasting. Land data assimilation systems use numerical land surface models along with observations of TWS and precipitation to provide enhanced estimates of the water budget over land.

Research highlights:

• Assimilation of Terrestrial Water Storage from GRACE in a Snow-dominated Basin (2010)

• Assimilation of GRACE terrestrial water storage data into a land surface model: Results for the Mississippi River basin (2008)