Elastic deformation as a tool to investigate watershed storage connectivity

Noah Clayton; Ellen Knappe; Alissa M. White; Hilary R. Martens; Donald F. Argus; Nicholas Lau; Adrian A. Borsa; Rebecca Bendick; W. Payton Gardner

doi:10.1038/s43247-024-01264-3

Elastic deformation as a tool to investigate watershed storage connectivity

Noah Clayton, Ellen Knappe, Alissa M. White, Hilary R. Martens, Donald F. Argus, Nicholas Lau, Adrian A. Borsa, Rebecca Bendick, W. Payton Gardner

Geosciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Storage-discharge relationships and dynamic changes in storage connectivity remain key unknowns in understanding and predicting watershed behavior. In this study, we use Global Positioning System measurements of load-induced Earth surface displacement as a proxy for total water storage change in four climatologically diverse mountain watersheds in the western United States. Comparing total water storage estimates with stream-connected storage derived from hydrograph analysis, we find that each of the investigated watersheds exhibits a characteristic seasonal pattern of connection and disconnection between total and stream-connected storage. We investigate how the degree and timing of watershed-scale connectivity is related to the timing of precipitation and seasonal changes in dominant hydrologic processes. Our results show that elastic deformation of the Earth due to water loading is a powerful new tool for elucidating dynamic storage connectivity and watershed discharge response across scales in space and time.

Original language	English
Article number	110
Journal	Communications Earth and Environment
Volume	5
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01264-3
State	Published - Feb 29 2024

Funding

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 2021637 and 1900646 and the U.S. Department of Energy DE-SC0021088. D. F. Argus’s research was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA, and was supported by NASA ROSES NNH18ZDA001N–ESI. This material is based on services provided by the GAGE Facility, operated by EarthScope Consortium, with support from the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Geological Survey under NSF Cooperative Agreement EAR-1724794. The authors declare no competing interests.

Funders	Funder number
1900646, 2021637, EAR-1724794
DE-SC0021088
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.

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10.1038/s43247-024-01264-3

Cite this

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abstract = "Storage-discharge relationships and dynamic changes in storage connectivity remain key unknowns in understanding and predicting watershed behavior. In this study, we use Global Positioning System measurements of load-induced Earth surface displacement as a proxy for total water storage change in four climatologically diverse mountain watersheds in the western United States. Comparing total water storage estimates with stream-connected storage derived from hydrograph analysis, we find that each of the investigated watersheds exhibits a characteristic seasonal pattern of connection and disconnection between total and stream-connected storage. We investigate how the degree and timing of watershed-scale connectivity is related to the timing of precipitation and seasonal changes in dominant hydrologic processes. Our results show that elastic deformation of the Earth due to water loading is a powerful new tool for elucidating dynamic storage connectivity and watershed discharge response across scales in space and time.",

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AU - Clayton, Noah

AU - Knappe, Ellen

AU - White, Alissa M.

AU - Martens, Hilary R.

AU - Argus, Donald F.

AU - Lau, Nicholas

AU - Borsa, Adrian A.

AU - Bendick, Rebecca

AU - Payton Gardner, W.

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AB - Storage-discharge relationships and dynamic changes in storage connectivity remain key unknowns in understanding and predicting watershed behavior. In this study, we use Global Positioning System measurements of load-induced Earth surface displacement as a proxy for total water storage change in four climatologically diverse mountain watersheds in the western United States. Comparing total water storage estimates with stream-connected storage derived from hydrograph analysis, we find that each of the investigated watersheds exhibits a characteristic seasonal pattern of connection and disconnection between total and stream-connected storage. We investigate how the degree and timing of watershed-scale connectivity is related to the timing of precipitation and seasonal changes in dominant hydrologic processes. Our results show that elastic deformation of the Earth due to water loading is a powerful new tool for elucidating dynamic storage connectivity and watershed discharge response across scales in space and time.

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Elastic deformation as a tool to investigate watershed storage connectivity

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