Water availability identification from GRACE dataset and GLDAS hydrological model over data-scarce river basins of Ethiopia

Abstract

ABSTRACT The nature of the heterogeneity of terrestrial water storage in the main river basins of Ethiopia is poorly understood. In river basins, measurements of terrestrial water storage changes are exceedingly rare in all temporal dimensions. This study investigates the spatiotemporal variation of water storage in the main river basins of Ethiopia using the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) with Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS). The results revealed significant variation in liquid water equivalents from GRACE and terrestrial water storage from GLDAS for each river basin, following a seasonal pattern. I found that GRACE and GLDAS datasets can be combined effectively to evaluate the long-term water storage in large-scale basins with limited hydrological data, and the obtained result provides a reliable outcome that will be essential for the establishment of climate change adaptation pathways in the future for essential water resource management and optimization.