Sensitivity of GRACE-derived estimates of groundwater-level changes in southern Ontario, Canada

Hachborn, Ellen; Berg, Aaron; Levison, Jana; Ambadan, Jaison Thomas

Sensitivity of GRACE-derived estimates of groundwater-level changes in southern Ontario, Canada | Sensibilité des changements de niveaux d’eau souterraine estimés à l’aide des données dérivées de GRACE dans le sud de l’Ontario, Canada Sensibilidad de las estimaciones derivadas de GRACE en los cambios del nivel de agua subterránea en el sur de Ontario, Canadá GRACE导出的加拿大安大略省南部地下水位变化估算值的灵敏度 Sensibilidade das estimativas derivadas do GRACE de mudanças no nível da água subterrânea no sul de Ontário, no Canadá

2017

Hachborn, Ellen | Berg, Aaron | Levison, Jana | Ambadan, Jaison Thomas

Amidst changing climates, understanding the world’s water resources is of increasing importance. In Ontario, Canada, low water conditions are currently assessed using only precipitation and watershed-based stream gauges by the Conservation Authorities in Ontario and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Regional groundwater-storage changes in Ontario are not currently measured using satellite data by research institutes. In this study, contributions from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data are compared to a hydrogeological database covering southern Ontario from 2003 to 2013, to determine the suitability of GRACE total water storage estimates for monitoring groundwater storage in this location. Terrestrial water storage data from GRACE were used to determine monthly groundwater storage (GWS) anomaly values. GWS values were also determined by multiplying groundwater-level elevations (from the Provincial Groundwater Monitoring Network wells) by specific yield. Comparisons of GRACE-derived GWS to well-based GWS data determined that GRACE is sufficiently sensitive to obtain a meaningful signal in southern Ontario. Results show that GWS values produced by GRACE are useful for identifying regional changes in groundwater storage in areas with limited available hydrogeological characterization data. Results also indicate that GRACE may have an ability to forecast changes in groundwater storage, which will become useful when monitoring climate shifts in the near future.

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