This blog post provides an introduction to the recently published paper from Hydrology Research, and highlights some of the key features and findings of the research.
Estimation of change in terrestrial water storage for Abbay River Basin, Ethiopia
doi.org/10.2166/nh.2023.119
By Agegnehu Kitanbo Yoshe
We are delighted to share the findings of our latest scientific study, which presents terrestrial water storage estimation in the Abbay River Basin.
As the water crisis is one of the main global risks that has different impacts on society, this study uses available data and tools to track water storage change in the Abbay River Basin, where there is a lack of observations and limited hydro-climatological studies. The GLDAS dataset was globally used in water resources and climate studies, particularly in areas where data are temporally and spatially limited. A lot of researchers have focused on water resource evaluation using GRACE and GLDAS for monitoring these limited natural resources globally.
The characteristics of water storage components for the river basin were evaluated, and their results show interannual variation following the seasonal pattern of the study area. The spatiotemporal variation of water storage from the GRACE and GLDAS data sets was evaluated for this study from 2002 to 2016 and compared. The estimated spatiotemporal change of liquid water equivalent and terrestrial water storage from GRACE and GLDAS, respectively, shows interannual variation following seasonal change.
This study also evaluates the impact of climatic change and anthropogenic activities on water storage, which leads to variation in water storage for the study area, and the result shows the variability of climatic factors (rainfall, temperature) and human activities like irrigation, domestic water demand, hydroelectric, and others that affect water availability in the study area.
To date, no such investigation has been observed in existing literature for the present study area. The adopted approaches, methodology, and obtained results are an honest contribution to the present study area in the area of water and hydrology for integrated water resource management. Finally, the result of the study adds high value for the study area to monitor drought events, hydrological extremes, and climatic changes, and it is also very essential for water resource management and optimization. As agriculture was the backbone of Ethiopian economic development, this finding also creates valuable information for water resource planners and decision-makers to feed the growing population in the country.