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At least 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Projected Changes to Hydroclimate Seasonality in the Continental United States

Abstract Future changes to the hydrological cycle are projected in a warming world, and any shifts in drought risk may prove extremely consequential for natural and human systems. In addition to long‐term moistening, drying, or warming trends, perturbations to the annual cycle of regional hydroclimate variables may also have substantial impacts. We analyze projected changes in several hydroclimate variables across the continental United States, along with shifts in the amplitude and phase of their annual cycles. We find that even in regions where no robust change in the annual mean is expected, coherent changes to the annual cycle are projected. In particular, we identify robust regional phase shifts toward earlier arrival of peak evaporation in the northern regions, and peak runoff and total soil moisture in the western regions. Changes in the amplitude of the annual cycle of total and surface soil moisture are also projected, and reflect changes to the annual cycle in surface water supply and demand. Whether changes become detectable above the background noise of internal variability depends strongly on the future scenario considered, and significant changes to the annual cycle are largely avoided in the lowest‐forcing scenario.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Comparison of potential drinking water source contamination across one hundred U.S. cities

Abstract Drinking water supplies of cities are exposed to potential contamination arising from land use and other anthropogenic activities in local and distal source watersheds. Because water quality sampling surveys are often piecemeal, regionally inconsistent, and incomplete with respect to unregulated contaminants, the United States lacks a detailed comparison of potential source water contamination across all of its large cities. Here we combine national-scale geospatial datasets with hydrologic simulations to compute two metrics representing potential contamination of water supplies from point and nonpoint sources for over a hundred U.S. cities. We reveal enormous diversity in anthropogenic activities across watersheds with corresponding disparities in the potential contamination of drinking water supplies to cities. Approximately 5% of large cities rely on water that is composed primarily of runoff from non-pristine lands (e.g., agriculture, residential, industrial), while four-fifths of all large cities that withdraw surface water are exposed to treated wastewater in their supplies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1973

Water resources

The application of ERTS-1 imagery to the conservation and control of water resources is discussed. The effects of exisiting geology and land use in the water shed area on the hydrologic cycle and the general characteristics of runoff are described. The effects of floods, snowcover, and glaciers are analyzed. The use of ERTS-1 imagery to map surface water and wetland areas to provide rapid inventorying over large regions of water bodies is reported.

Salomonson, V. V.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Operational use of LANDSAT imagery for the estimation of snow areal extent

Quantification of the surface area of snow covering watersheds can be a useful parameter in estimating snow water content for inclusion in water runoff prediction equations. An operational manual interpretation technique is described, which allows fast and accurate estimates to be made of the areal extent of snow parameter using LANDSAT-1 imagery. The analysis procedures and the statistical results are presented.

Katibah, E. F.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Projected Changes to Hydroclimate Seasonality in the Continental United States

Future changes to the hydrological cycle are projected in a warming world, and any shifts in drought risk may prove extremely consequential for natural and human systems. In addition to long-term moistening, drying, or warming trends, perturbations to the annual cycle of regional hydroclimate variables may also have substantial impacts. We analyze projected changes in several hydroclimate variables across the continental United States, along with shifts in the amplitude and phase of their annual cycles. We find that even in regions where no robust change in the annual mean is expected, coherent changes to the annual cycle are projected. In particular, we identify robust regional phase shifts toward earlier arrival of peak evaporation in the northern regions, and peak runoff and total soil moisture in the western regions. Changes in the amplitude of the annual cycle of total and surface soil moisture are also projected, and reflect changes to the annual cycle in surface water supply and demand. Whether changes become detectable above the background noise of internal variability depends strongly on the future scenario considered, and significant changes to the annual cycle are largely avoided in the lowest-forcing scenario.

drought↗
NASA NTRS2014

Real-Time Global Flood Estimation Using Satellite-Based Precipitation and a Coupled Land Surface and Routing Model

A widely used land surface model, the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model, is coupled with a newly developed hierarchical dominant river tracing-based runoff-routing model to form the Dominant river tracing-Routing Integrated with VIC Environment (DRIVE) model, which serves as the new core of the real-time Global Flood Monitoring System (GFMS). The GFMS uses real-time satellite-based precipitation to derive flood monitoring parameters for the latitude band 50 deg. N - 50 deg. S at relatively high spatial (approximately 12 km) and temporal (3 hourly) resolution. Examples of model results for recent flood events are computed using the real-time GFMS (http://flood.umd.edu). To evaluate the accuracy of the new GFMS, the DRIVE model is run retrospectively for 15 years using both research-quality and real-time satellite precipitation products. Evaluation results are slightly better for the research-quality input and significantly better for longer duration events (3 day events versus 1 day events). Basins with fewer dams tend to provide lower false alarm ratios. For events longer than three days in areas with few dams, the probability of detection is approximately 0.9 and the false alarm ratio is approximately 0.6. In general, these statistical results are better than those of the previous system. Streamflow was evaluated at 1121 river gauges across the quasi-global domain. Validation using real-time precipitation across the tropics (30 deg. S - 30 deg. N) gives positive daily Nash-Sutcliffe Coefficients for 107 out of 375 (28%) stations with a mean of 0.19 and 51% of the same gauges at monthly scale with a mean of 0.33. There were poorer results in higher latitudes, probably due to larger errors in the satellite precipitation input.

global flood estimation↗
NASA NTRS2018

Improved Hydrology over Peatlands in a Global Land Modeling System

Peatlands of the Northern Hemisphere represent an important carbon pool that mainly accumulated since the last ice age under permanently wet conditions in specific geological and climatic settings. The carbon balance of peatlands is closely coupled to water table dynamics. Consequently, the future carbon balance over peatlands is strongly dependent on how hydrology in peatlands will react to changing boundary conditions, e.g. due to climate change or regional water level drawdown of connected aquifers or streams. Global land surface modeling over organic-rich regions can provide valuable global-scale insights on where and how peatlands are in transition due to changing boundary conditions. However, the current global land surface models are not able to reproduce typical hydrological dynamics in peatlands well. We implemented specific structural and parametric changes to account for key hydrological characteristics of peatlands into NASA's GEOS-5 Catchment Land Surface Model (CLSM, Koster et al. 2000). The main modifications pertain to the modeling of partial inundation, and the definition of peatland-specific runoff and evapotranspiration schemes. We ran a set of simulations on a high performance cluster using different CLSM configurations and validated the results with a newly compiled global in-situ dataset of water table depths in peatlands. The results demonstrate that an update of soil hydraulic properties for peat soils alone does not improve the performance of CLSM over peatlands. However, structural model changes for peatlands are able to improve the skill metrics for water table depth. The validation results for the water table depth indicate a reduction of the bias from 2.5 to 0.2 m, and an improvement of the temporal correlation coefficient from 0.5 to 0.65, and from 0.4 to 0.55 for the anomalies. Our validation data set includes both bogs (rain-fed) and fens (ground and/or surface water influence) and reveals that the metrics improved less for fens. In addition, a comparison of evapotranspiration and soil moisture estimates over peatlands will be presented, albeit only with limited ground-based validation data. We will discuss strengths and weaknesses of the new model by focusing on time series of specific validation sites.

Bechtold, M.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Real-Time Application of Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis for Floods and Landslides

Satellite data acquired and processed in real time now have the potential to provide the spacetime information on rainfall needed to monitor flood and landslide events around the world. This can be achieved by integrating the satellite-derived forcing data with hydrological models and landslide algorithms. Progress in using the TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) as input to flood and landslide forecasts is outlined, with a focus on understanding limitations of the rainfall data and impacts of those limitations on flood/landslide analyses. Case studies of both successes and failures will be shown, as well as comparison with ground comparison data sets-- both in terms of rainfall and in terms of flood/landslide events. In addition to potential uses in real-time, the nearly ten years of TMPA data allow retrospective running of the models to examine variations in extreme events. The flood determination algorithm consists of four major components: 1) multi-satellite precipitation estimation; 2) characterization of land surface including digital elevation from NASA SRTM (Shuttle Radar Terrain Mission), topography-derived hydrologic parameters such as flow direction, flow accumulation, basin, and river network etc.; 3) a hydrological model to infiltrate rainfall and route overland runoff; and 4) an implementation interface to relay the input data to the models and display the flood inundation results to potential users and decision-makers, In terms of landslides, the satellite rainfall information is combined with a global landslide susceptibility map, derived from a combination of global surface characteristics (digital elevation topography, slope, soil types, soil texture, and land cover classification etc.) using a weighted linear combination approach. In those areas identified as "susceptible" (based on the surface characteristics), landslides are forecast where and when a rainfall intensity/duration threshold is exceeded. Results are described indicating general agreement with landslide occurrences.

Adler, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2007

Application of Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis to Floods and Landslides

Satellite data acquired and processed in real time now have the potential to provide the spacetime information on rainfall needed to monitor flood and landslide events around the world. This can be achieved by integrating the satellite-derived forcing data with hydrological models and landslide algorithms. Progress in using the TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) as input to flood and landslide forecasts is outlined, with a focus on understanding limitations of the rainfall data and impacts of those limitations on flood/landslide analyses. Case studies of both successes and failures will be shown, as well as comparison with ground comparison data sets both in terms of rainfall and in terms of flood/landslide events. In addition to potential uses in real-time, the nearly ten years of TMPA data allow retrospective running of the models to examine variations in extreme events. The flood determination algorithm consists of four major components: 1) multi-satellite precipitation estimation; 2) characterization of land surface including digital elevation from NASA SRTM (Shuttle Radar Terrain Mission), topography-derived hydrologic parameters such as flow direction, flow accumulation, basin, and river network etc.; 3) a hydrological model to infiltrate rainfall and route overland runoff; and 4) an implementation interface to relay the input data to the models and display the flood inundation results to potential users and decision-makers. In terms of landslides, the satellite rainfall information is combined with a global landslide susceptibility map, derived from a combination of global surface characteristics (digital elevation topography, slope, soil types, soil texture, and land cover classification etc.) using a weighted linear combination approach. In those areas identified as "susceptible" (based on the surface characteristics), landslides are forecast where and when a rainfall intensity/duration threshold is exceeded. Results are described indicating general agreement with landslide occurrences. However, difficulties in comparing landslide event information (mostly from news reports) with the satellite-based forecasts are analyzed.

Adler, Robert↗
NASA NTRS1973

Break-up characteristics of Chena River Basin

The author has identified the following significant results. While visually analyzing ERTS-1 data for August and September, 1972, it was found that lakes as small as 200 feet in diameter were visible on the imagery. An examination of the imagery for the Minto Lakes area shows that the lakes take on their darkest appearance in MSS band 6. The Tanana River which flows through this area appears quite light in band 5, quite dark in band 7, and is almost undetectable for band 6. The significance of these data are that potential surface storage could be measured for watersheds that have substantial numbers of lakes. This potential storage would be available to both spring runoff and summer precipitation. Caution must be shown because certain clouds cast a shadow that is similar to the lake appearance. The difference of the imagery for a lake and a river of the same band is due to the sediment load for the river. The Tanana River had a heavy glacial sediment load. The area of snow cover during the fall accumulation can be mapped in detail.

Carlson, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Areal extent of snow estimation in the Northern Sierra Nevada Mountains using LANDSAT-1 imagery

Quantification of the surface area of snow covering watersheds is believed to be a useful parameter in estimating snow water content for inclusion in water runoff prediction equations. An operational manual interpretation technique which allows fast and accurate estimates to be made of the areal extent of snow parameter using LANDSAT-1 imagery is documented. The analysis procedures, the statistical results, and the associated costs of this research are presented.

Katibah, E. F.↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Hurricane-Flood-Landslide Continuum: Forecasting Hurricane Effects at Landfall

Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones strike Central American, Caribbean, Southeast Asian and Pacific Island nations even more frequently than the U.S. The global losses of life and property from the floods, landslides and debris flows caused by cyclonic storms are staggering. One of the keys to reducing these losses, both in the U.S. and internationally, is to have better forecasts of what is about to happen from several hours to days before the event. Particularly in developing nations where science, technology and communication are limited, advance-warning systems can have great impact. In developing countries, warnings of even a few hours or days can mitigate or reduce catastrophic losses of life. With the foregoing needs in mind, we propose an initial project of three years total duration that will aim to develop and transfer a warning system for a prototype region in the Central Caribbean, specifically the islands of Puerto Rico and Hispanola. The Hurricane-Flood-Landslide Continuum will include satellite observations to track and nowcast dangerous levels of precipitation, atmospheric and hydrological models to predict near-future runoff, and streamflow changes in affected regions, and landslide models to warn when and where landslides and debris flows are imminent. Since surface communications are likely to be interrupted during these crises, the project also includes the capability to communicate disaster information via satellite to vital government officials in Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Dominican Republic.

Negri, A.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Machine Learning Calibration of Groundwater Table Depth in ELM: Impact on Land Surface Hydrology and Land‐Atmosphere Fluxes

Accurate representation of groundwater table depth (GWTD) is crucial for simulating hydrological cycling in Earth system models (ESM). Nevertheless, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding the validation of GWTD simulations in ESMs and their subsequent impact on downstream hydrological components. This study explores the calibration of parameterization of global GWTD using machine learning within the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) Land Model (ELM). Despite achieving significant gains in simulating GWTD through calibration, offline ELM simulations unexpectedly show that these improvements do not translate to substantial enhancements in model performance for other key hydrological variables, including soil moisture (SM), runoff, groundwater contribution to runoff or base flow index (BFI), and evapotranspiration and its partitioning. The performance in SM and runoff was even degraded in some regions, while BFI was mostly overestimated. Although there is significant improvement in GWTD within the critical range of 1–5 m, where groundwater traditionally influences land surface energy fluxes, these improvements occurred mostly in humid areas where the impact of GWTD on surface processes is minimal. Although the impacts of model calibration are generally small in offline ELM simulations, coupled land-atmosphere simulations exhibit much stronger responses to GWTD calibration, highlighting the role of land-atmosphere feedbacks in Earth system modeling. These findings underscore the need for integrated calibration strategies that simultaneously optimize multiple hydrological variables. However, if a single-variable approach is necessary, it is crucial to establish clear priorities for calibration, identifying the most critical variables that have the greatest impact on overall model performance.

Fang, Yilin [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2024

Wildland–urban interface wildfire increases metal contributions to stormwater runoff in Paradise, California

The 2018 Camp Fire was a large late-year (November) wildfire that produced an urban firestorm in the Town of Paradise, California, USA, and destroyed more than 18 000 structures. Runoff from burned wildland areas is known to contain ash, which can transport contaminants including metals into nearby watersheds. However, due to historically infrequent occurrences, the effect of wildland-urban interface (WUI) fires, such as the Camp Fire, on surface water quality has not been well-characterized. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of widespread urban burning on surface water quality in major watersheds of the Camp Fire area. Between November 2018 and May 2019, 140 surface water samples were collected, including baseflow and stormflow, from burned and unburned watersheds with varying extent of urban development. Samples were analyzed for total and filter-passing metals, dissolved organic carbon, major anions, and total suspended solids. Ash and debris from the Camp Fire contributed metals to downstream watersheds via runoff throughout the storm season. Increases in concentration up to 200-fold were found for metals Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in burned watersheds compared to pre-fire values. Total concentrations of Al, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn exceeded EPA aquatic habitat acute criteria by up to 16-fold for up to five months after the fire. To assess possible transport mechanisms and bioavailability, a subset of 18 samples was analyzed using four filters with nominal pore sizes ranging from 0.22 to 1.2 μm to determine the particulate size distribution of metals. Trace and major metals (Al, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were found mostly associated with larger grain sizes (>0.45 μm), and some metals (Al, Cr, Fe, and Pb) also included a substantial colloidal phase (0.22 to 0.45 μm). This study suggests that fires in the wildland–urban interface increase metal concentrations, mainly through particulate driven transport. The metals with the largest increases are likely from anthropogenic disaster materials, though biomass ash also is a major contributor to water quality. In conclusion, the increase in metals following WUI burning may have adverse ecological impacts.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1974

ERTS imagery applied to Alaskan coastal problems

Along the Alaska coast, surface water circulation is relatively easy to study with ERTS imagery. Highly turbid river water, sea ice, and fluvial ice have proven to be excellent tracers of the surface waters. Sea truth studies in the Gulf of Alaska, Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay, and the Bering Strait area have established the reliability of these tracers. ERTS imagery in the MSS 4 and 5 bands is particularly useful for observing lower concentrations of suspended sediment, while MSS 6 data is best for the most concentrated plumes. Ice features are most clearly seen on MSS 7 imagery; fracture patterns and the movement of specific floes can be used to map circulation in the winter when runoff is restricted, if appropriate allowance is made for wind influence. Current patterns interpreted from satellite data are only two-dimensional, but since most biological activity and pollution are concentrated near the surface, the information developed can be of direct utility. Details of Alaska inshore circulation of importance to coastal engineering, navigation, pollution studies, and fisheries development have been clarified with satellite data. ERTS has made possible the analysis of circulation in many parts of the Alaskan coast.

Wright, F. F.↗
NASA NTRS2026

Petermann Glacier on the Brink: Progress, Challenges and Insights

Petermann Glacier, the largest marine-terminating glacier in northern Greenland based on catchment area and ice discharge, plays a key role in regulating ice discharge from the Greenland Ice Sheet into the Arctic Ocean. With an upstream catchment connected to the ice sheet interior via a deep subglacial canyon, its future stability has major implications for sea level rise. In this review, we synthesize recent advances in understanding Petermann’s dynamics across three critical interfaces: the ice–ocean, ice–atmosphere, and ice–bed boundaries. At the surface, observations show that reanalysis products underestimate air temperatures and melt, while regional climate models diverge significantly in their estimates of surface mass balance, underscoring the need for improved in situ data and models. At the ocean boundary, enhanced basal melting driven by both subglacial runoff and Atlantic water intrusions is identified as the dominant driver of recent mass loss of Petermann Glacier, with continued warming posing a serious threat to the stability of the floating tongue. At the bed, new geophysical synthesis reveals complex geology, likely spatial variability in geothermal heat flux, and the influence of the megacanyon on seasonal hydrology and velocity fluctuations. Petermann’s mass balance has been negative in recent decades without corresponding flow acceleration. However, the glacier has undergone significant calving events, and the current rifting that began in September 2025 highlights its vulnerability. This upcoming calving event underscores the timeliness of this review, as it will put Petermann Glacier’s terminus at its most retreated position since records began in 1923. The anticipated retreat of the ice tongue also reduces buttressing and brings the terminus closer to the grounding zone, and modeling studies suggest that calving within 12 km of the grounding zone could potentially trigger dynamic retreat, accelerating ice discharge, and a doubling of flow speeds. We conclude that improved observations, sustained monitoring of oceanographic and atmospheric properties, and high-resolution modeling are critical to constraining projections of Petermann Glacier’s future and its role in the stability of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Dominik Fahrner↗
NASA NTRS2014

The Ancient Martian Climate System

Today Mars is a cold, dry, desert planet. The atmosphere is thin and liquid water is not stable at the surface. But there is evidence that very early in its history, some 3.7-4.1 billion years ago, the climate system supported much warmer conditions including an active hydrological cycle with rainfall and runoff. Given the importance of liquid water to astrobiology and NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, researchers have been trying to understand the ancient martian climate system since the early 1970s when the Mariner 9 spacecraft first detected fluvial features on its oldest terrains. Though the evidence for warm wet conditions is compelling, the problem is not yet solved. The main issue is coping with the faint young sun. During the period when warmer conditions prevailed the sun’s luminosity was ~25% less than it is today. How can we explain the presence of liquid water on the surface of ancient Mars under such conditions? A similar problem exists for Earth, which would have frozen over under a faint sun even though the evidence suggests otherwise. Attempts to solve the “Faint Young Sun Paradox”, as it is commonly known, rely on greenhouse warming from an atmosphere with a different mass and composition than we see today. This is true for both Mars and Earth. However, for Mars there is no solution in sight. Long-lived continuously warm and wet atmospheres are difficult to produce and sustain. And a new and emerging idea - that ancient Mars was fundamentally a cold planet with transient episodes of warm wet conditions brought about by external forcings such as impacts, volcanism, and/or orbital changes – also has issues. In this seminar I will review this fascinating topic and discuss some of the recent ideas on how to solve it, the issues they raise, and what I believe are some promising avenues for future research.

Haberle, Robert M.↗
NASA NTRS1979

A hydrological analysis of east Australian floods using Nimbus-5 electrically scanning radiometer data

The chronological development and diminution of six floods in eastern Australia during January, February, and March 1974 were mapped for the first time by the Nimbus Electrically Scanning Microwave Radiometer (ESMR). Day and nighttime ESMR (19.35 GHz) coverage was analyzed for the low gradient, flooded Darling River system in New South Wales. Apparent movement of surface water as indicated by low brightness temperatures (less than 250 K, day and less than 240 K, night) was easily followed around the curved runoff basin along the northern shoreline of the flooded Darling River during this 3-month period. This pattern was in good agreement with flood crest data at selected river height gage stations, even under cloudy conditions.

Allison, L. J.↗