Assessing Changes in Terrestrial Water Storage Components over the Great Artesian Basin Using Satellite Observations

• Published in: Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 13; no. 21; p. 4458
• Main Authors: Kaushik, Pankaj R., Ndehedehe, Christopher E., Burrows, Ryan M., Noll, Mark R., Kennard, Mark J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Anthropogenic factors; Aquifers; Artesian basins; Basins; Climate change; Climate models; Data assimilation; Datasets; Evapotranspiration; GRACE; GRACE (experiment); Great Artesian Basin; Groundwater; Groundwater basins; Groundwater recharge; Groundwater storage; groundwater storage variation; Human influences; Hydrology; Investigations; MLRA; PCA; Precipitation; Rainfall; Remote sensing; Reservoirs; Satellite observation; Soil moisture; Spatial distribution; Surface water; Temporal distribution; Terrestrial environments; Variation; Water monitoring; Water storage; Queensland Australia; Australia
• ISSN: 2072-4292; 2072-4292
• DOI: 10.3390/rs13214458

The influence of climate change and anthropogenic activities (e.g., water withdrawals) on groundwater basins has gained attention recently across the globe. However, the understanding of hydrological stores (e.g., groundwater storage) in one of the largest and deepest artesian basins, the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) is limited due to the poor distribution of groundwater monitoring bores. In this study, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite and ancillary data from observations and models (soil moisture, rainfall, and evapotranspiration (ET)) were used to assess changes in terrestrial water storage and groundwater storage (GWS) variations across the GAB and its sub-basins (Carpentaria, Surat, Western Eromanga, and Central Eromanga). Results show that there is strong relationship of GWS variation with rainfall (r = 0.9) and ET (r = 0.9 to 1) in the Surat and some parts of the Carpentaria sub-basin in the GAB (2002–2017). Using multi-variate methods, we found that variation in GWS is primarily driven by rainfall in the Carpentaria sub-basin. While changes in rainfall account for much of the observed spatio-temporal distribution of water storage changes in Carpentaria and some parts of the Surat sub-basin (r = 0.90 at 0–2 months lag), the relationship of GWS with rainfall and ET in Central Eromanga sub-basin (r = 0.10–0.30 at more than 12 months lag) suggest the effects of human water extraction in the GAB.