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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2021

Indicators of Climate Change Impacts on the Water Cycle and Water Management

Managing water is a top social and economic responsibility and is expected to become even more critical as climate change, in addition to other human activities, alters water availability and quality. Robust indicators reflecting the effects of climate change on the U.S. and global water cycles are needed in order to appropriately manage water resources. Here, we describe a suite of seventeen water cycle and management indicators, which are based on synthesis of available datasets. These indicators include: average and heavy precipitation, standardized precipitation index, annual, 7-day low and 3-day high streamflow volume, streamflow timing, snow cover, snow water equivalent, groundwater level, lake water temperature, stream water temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, Palmer Drought Severity Index, water withdrawals and water use. We also identify three indicators that could be included in the suite of water cycle and management indicators with some additional, directed work: snowfall, evapotranspiration and soil moisture. Our conceptual framework focuses on known water cycle changes in addition to potential effects on management, and addresses water quantity and quality, as well as water use and related interactions with freshwater ecosystems, societal impacts, and management. Water cycle indicators are organized into three categories: (1) hydrologic processes, (2) water quality processes, and (3) water quality and quantity impacts. Indicators described here are recommended to serve as critical references for periodic climate assessments. As such, these indicators support analyses of the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy, and water resources, among other sectors. Additionally, we identify research gaps and needs that can be addressed to advance the development of future indicators.

Christa D Peters-Lidard↗
NASA NTRS2012

NASA's Water Solutions Using Remote Sensing

NASA Water Resources works within Earth sciences to leverage investments of space-based observation, model results, and development and deployment of enabling technologies, systems, and capabilities into water resources management decision support tools for the sustainable use of water. Earth science satellite observations and modelling products provide a huge volume of valuable data in both near-real-time and extended back nearly 50 years about the Earth's land surface conditions such as land cover type, vegetation type and health, precipitation, snow, soil moisture, and water levels and radiation. Observations of this type combined with models and analysis enable satellite-based assessment of the water cycle. With increasing population pressure and water usage coupled with climate variability and change, water issues are being reported by numerous groups as the most critical environmental problems facing us in the 21st century. Competitive uses and the prevalence of river basins and aquifers that extend across boundaries engender political tensions between communities, stakeholders and countries. The NASA Water Resources Program has the objective to provide NASA products to help deal with these issues with the goal for the sustainable use of water. The Water Resources program organizes its projects under five functional themes: 1) stream-flow and flood forecasting; 2) water consumptive use (includes evapotranspiration) and irrigation; 3) drought; 4) water quality; and 5) climate and water resources. NASA primarily works with national and international groups such as other US government agencies (NOAA, EPA, USGS, USAID) and various other groups to maximize the widest use of the water products. A summary of NASA's water activities linked to helping solve issues for developing countries will be highlighted.

Toll, David↗
NASA NTRS1976

Analysis of information systems for hydropower operations: Executive summary

An analysis was performed of the operations of hydropower systems, with emphasis on water resource management, to determine how aerospace derived information system technologies can effectively increase energy output. Better utilization of water resources was sought through improved reservoir inflow forecasting based on use of hydrometeorologic information systems with new or improved sensors, satellite data relay systems, and use of advanced scheduling techniques for water release. Specific mechanisms for increased energy output were determined, principally the use of more timely and accurate short term (0-7 days) inflow information to reduce spillage caused by unanticipated dynamic high inflow events. The hydrometeorologic models used in predicting inflows were examined in detail to determine the sensitivity of inflow prediction accuracy to the many variables employed in the models, and the results were used to establish information system requirements. Sensor and data handling system capabilities were reviewed and compared to the requirements, and an improved information system concept was outlined.

Sohn, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Estimating Temperature Retrieval Accuracy Associated With Thermal Band Spatial Resolution Requirements for Center Pivot Irrigation Monitoring and Management

This study explores the use of synthetic thermal center pivot irrigation scenes to estimate temperature retrieval accuracy for thermal remote sensed data, such as data acquired from current and proposed Landsat-like thermal systems. Center pivot irrigation is a common practice in the western United States and in other parts of the world where water resources are scarce. Wide-area ET (evapotranspiration) estimates and reliable water management decisions depend on accurate temperature information retrieval from remotely sensed data. Spatial resolution, sensor noise, and the temperature step between a field and its surrounding area impose limits on the ability to retrieve temperature information. Spatial resolution is an interrelationship between GSD (ground sample distance) and a measure of image sharpness, such as edge response or edge slope. Edge response and edge slope are intuitive, and direct measures of spatial resolution are easier to visualize and estimate than the more common Modulation Transfer Function or Point Spread Function. For these reasons, recent data specifications, such as those for the LDCM (Landsat Data Continuity Mission), have used GSD and edge response to specify spatial resolution. For this study, we have defined a 400-800 m diameter center pivot irrigation area with a large 25 K temperature step associated with a 300 K well-watered field surrounded by an infinite 325 K dry area. In this context, we defined the benchmark problem as an easily modeled, highly common stressing case. By parametrically varying GSD (30-240 m) and edge slope, we determined the number of pixels and field area fraction that meet a given temperature accuracy estimate for 400-m, 600-m, and 800-m diameter field sizes. Results of this project will help assess the utility of proposed specifications for the LDCM and other future thermal remote sensing missions and for water resource management.

Ryan, Robert E.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Differentiable, Learnable, Regionalized Process-Based Models With Multiphysical Outputs can Approach State-Of-The-Art Hydrologic Prediction Accuracy

Predictions of hydrologic variables across the entire water cycle have significant value for water resources management as well as downstream applications such as ecosystem and water quality modeling. Recently, purely data-driven deep learning models like long short-term memory (LSTM) showed seemingly insurmountable performance in modeling rainfall runoff and other geoscientific variables, yet they cannot predict untrained physical variables and remain challenging to interpret. Here, we show that differentiable, learnable, process-based models (called δ models here) can approach the performance level of LSTM for the intensively observed variable (streamflow) with regionalized parameterization. We use a simple hydrologic model HBV as the backbone and use embedded neural networks, which can only be trained in a differentiable programming framework, to parameterize, enhance, or replace the process-based model's modules. Without using an ensemble or post-processor, δ models can obtain a median Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.732 for 671 basins across the USA for the Daymet forcing data set, compared to 0.748 from a state-of-the-art LSTM model with the same setup. For another forcing data set, the difference is even smaller: 0.715 versus 0.722. Meanwhile, the resulting learnable process-based models can output a full set of untrained variables, for example, soil and groundwater storage, snowpack, evapotranspiration, and baseflow, and can later be constrained by their observations. Both simulated evapotranspiration and fraction of discharge from baseflow agreed decently with alternative estimates. The general framework can work with models with various process complexity and opens up the path for learning physics from big data.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Disinfection byproducts formed during drinking water treatment reveal an export control point for dissolved organic matter in a subalpine headwater stream

Changes in climate, season, and vegetation can alter organic export from watersheds. While an accepted tradeoff to protect public health, disinfection processes during drinking water treatment can adversely react with organic compounds to form disinfection byproducts (DBPs). By extension, DBP monitoring can yield insights into hydrobiogeochemical dynamics within watersheds and their implications for water resource management. In this study, we analyzed temporal trends from a water treatment facility that sources water from Coal Creek in Crested Butte, Colorado. These trends revealed a long-term increase in haloacetic acid and trihalomethane formation over the period of 2005-2020. Additionally, disproportionate export of dissolved organic carbon and formation of DBPs that exceeded regulatory guidelines were consistently recorded in association with late spring freshet. Synoptic sampling of the creek in 2020 and 2021 identified a biogeochemical hotspot for organic carbon export in the upper domain of the watershed that contained a prominent fulvic acid-like fluorescent signature. DBP formation potential analyses from this domain yielded similar ratios of dominant DBP species to those formed at the drinking water facility. Spectrometric qualitative analyses of pre and post-reacted waters with hypochlorite indicated ligninlike and condensed hydrocarbon-like molecules were the major reactive chemical classes during chlorine-based disinfection. This study demonstrates how drinking water quality archives can be coupled with synoptic sampling to identify and understand export control points for dissolved organic matter. Resultant understanding can be applied in water treatment and watershed management plans to improve drinking water quality sourced from analogous watersheds.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS2020

Advancing Precipitation Estimation, Prediction, and Impact Studies

Precipitation exhibits a large variability over a wide range of space and time scales: from seconds to years and decades in time; from the millimeter scale of microphysical processes to regional and global scales in space. It also exhibits a large variability in magnitude and frequency, from low extremes resulting in prolonged droughts to high extremes resulting in devastating floods. Improving precipitation estimation and prediction has great societal impact for decision support in water resources management, infrastructure protection and design under accelerating climate extremes, quantifying water and energy balances at the regional to global scales, and predicting hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts that affect the economy and security around the world (e.g., Blunden and Arndt, 2019). Yet, despite significant advances in observations and physical understanding, precipitation still remains one of the most challenging variables to model and predict at local, regional and global scales with significant implications for our ability to quantify water and energy cycle dynamics, inform decision making, and predict hydro-geomorphic hazards in response to precipitation extremes (e.g. Maggioni and Massari, 2019).

Efi Foufoula-Georgiou↗
NASA NTRS2011

NREPS Applications for Water Supply and Management in California and Tennessee

Management of water resources is a balancing act between temporally and spatially limited sources and competitive needs which can often exceed the supply. In order to manage water resources over a region such as the San Joaquin Valley or the Tennessee River Valley, it is pertinent to know the amount of water that has fallen in the watershed and where the water is going within it. Since rain gauge networks are typically sparsely spaced, it is typical that the majority of rainfall on the region may not be measured. To mitigate this under-sampling of rainfall, weather radar has long been employed to provide areal rainfall estimates. The Next-Generation Weather Radars (NEXRAD) make it possible to estimate rainfall over the majority of the conterminous United States. The NEXRAD Rainfall Estimation Processing System (NREPS) was developed specifically for the purpose of using weather radar to estimate rainfall for water resources management. The NREPS is tailored to meet customer needs on spatial and temporal scales relevant to the hydrologic or land-surface models of the end-user. It utilizes several techniques to mitigate artifacts in the NEXRAD data from contaminating the rainfall field. These techniques include clutter filtering, correction for occultation by topography as well as accounting for the vertical profile of reflectivity. This presentation will focus on improvements made to the NREPS system to map rainfall in the San Joaquin Valley for NASA s Water Supply and Management Project in California, but also ongoing rainfall mapping work in the Tennessee River watershed for the Tennessee Valley Authority and possible future applications in other areas of the continent.

Gatlin, P.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Generalized Relationship Linking Water Balance and Vegetation Productivity across Site-to-Regional Scales

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a pivotal component in catchment-scale water balance and is essential for informed watershed management. Nevertheless, uncertainties in ET observation or modeling have been hindering effective water resources management. This study addresses this gap by establishing a robust, generalized linear relationship between ET and gross primary productivity (GPP) at the catchment scale. We test the linearity of the relationships between monthly GPP and ET data at 380 near-natural catchments across various climatic and landscape conditions in the contiguous U.S., yielding Pearson’s r ≥ 0.6 for 97% of the 380 catchments. We then develop a regionalization strategy to parameterize this GPP-ET relationship at the catchment scale by identifying and utilizing the linkages between the parameter values and extensively available hydroclimatic and landscape data. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed GPP-ET relationship and parameter regionalization strategy by their combined predictive capacity, where the predicted monthly GPP matches well with remote-sensing-based GPP product, achieving Kling-Gupta Efficient (KGE) values ≥ 0.5 for 92% of the catchments. In addition, we verify the relationship and its parameter regionalization at 35 AmeriFlux sites with KGE ≥ 0.5 for 25 sites, suggesting that the new relationship is transferable across the site, catchment, and regional scales. Furthermore, our findings are valuable for improving remote-sensing-based estimation of monthly ET and diagnosing coupled water–carbon simulations in land surface and Earth system models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2019

WWAO-WSWC Workshop Report 2019 Final

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Western States Water Council (WSWC) and the NASA Western Water Applications Office (WWAO) hosted a joint workshop on technology transfer for water management in the Western U.S. The goals of the workshop were to understand how different agencies approach the technology transfer and research to operations (R2O) process, identify best practices, and discuss existing barriers to successful technology infusion into operational water resource management systems at the state and federal level. The workshop took place August 7-9, 2019 in Irvine, CA. Key outcomes of the meeting include the following:• U.S. Rep. Grace Napolitano provided opening remarks for the workshop, where she highlighted the critical value of water data and the importance of collaboration between state and federal agencies in working to advance the use of water data in water management, planning and policy. • A total of 33 participants (including remote participants) were part of the workshop. They included principal investigators and project teams supported by NASA (Cyanobacteria Assessment Network, Evapotranspiration for Western States, Evaporative Stress Index, the Airborne Snow Observatory, Satellite-based Snow Water Equivalent in the Sierra Nevadas, and Fallowed Area Mapping) as well as representatives from federal (USGS, NOAA, USBR, EPA) and state (CA, WY, OR, NE) agency partners. • One main outcome of the meeting was the consensus that successful transitions of new applications and new technologies into operations require careful planning, effective communication within and across institutions, resources and considerable time investments. In addition, there was broad agreement that significant lead time is often required to allow for identification of financial and technical resources to sustain operational use of new data, information and tools.• The meeting included remarks from U.S. Rep. Napolitano and discussions during presentations and breakout groups about key opportunities to develop best practices and streamline the technology transfer process. • For example, one key set of best practices that emerged revolved around the the importance of building trust and establishing clear lines of communication between the research and operational institutions. The conversations led to defining two key components of trust-building. The first aspect is purely technical. It requires effectively demonstrating that the proposed application meets the end user’s needs in terms of accuracy, format, resolution, latency, metadata and documentation. The second aspect of building trust involves developing sustained, productive and mutually-beneficial relationships with the partner operational agency. The best practices presented here span both the technical as well as the relational aspects of cultivating trust. • This workshop served as a first step in developing a broader community discussion around R2O in western water management. Many of the best practices and lessons learned described in this report represent starting places for action within the WWAO, WSWC and our colleagues’ institutions. • Effective implementation of the best practices that emerged from this workshop will require sustained investments of time, resources and transition planning. In recognition of this, the WSWC and the WWAO proposed continuation of discussions begun at the workshop through a series of semi-annual or annual workshops.

Wilardson, Tony↗
NASA NTRS1973

Utilization of remotely-sensed data in the management of inland wetlands

The author has identified the following significant results. ERTS-1 data and aerial photography are proving to be a useful tool for the inventory and management of inland wetlands. Two examples of the application of remotely-sensed data to specific wetland management needs or requirements are discussed. Studies of the Great Dismal Swamp are utilizing ERTS-1 imagery and color IR photography in: (1) study area selection; (2) field inspection; (3) vegetation mapping; (4) identification of drainage characteristics and moisture regime; (5) location of intensive study areas; and (6) detection of change. Thematic extractions of ERTS-1 data made using the United States Geological Survey's Autographic Theme Extraction System are aiding analyses of swamp hydrologic regime and providing information pertinent to quick recognition and inventory of wetlands from ERTS-1. DCP'S in south Florida wetlands provide near-real time data for water resources managers. Data relayed by satellite can be entered into models to provide predictive data and water storage information for long-term and short-term decision making.

Carter, V.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Observationally-based relations among water cycle parameters during snowfall events in the Upper Colorado River Basin

Cold-season precipitation predictability within the complex terrain of the Upper Colorado River Basin is vital for water resource management across many western states, as the Colorado River serves as a primary source of water for over 40 million people in the Western United States and Mexico. This study uses the remote sensing measurements of such water cycle parameters as the liquid equivalent snowfall rate, S, and accumulation, A, vertically integrated amounts of supercooled cloud liquid and ice expressed as liquid water path(LWP) and ice water path (IWP), respectively, and vertically integrated water vapor IWV.

Matrosov, Sergey [CIRES University of Colorado Bou↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating an Earth system model from a water manager perspective

Abstract. The large spatial scale of global Earth system models (ESMs) is often cited as an obstacle to using the output by water resource managers in localized decisions. Recent advances in computing have improved the fidelity of hydrological responses in ESMs through increased connectivity between model components. However, the models are seldom evaluated for their ability to reproduce metrics that are important for and resonate with practitioners or that allow practitioners to situate higher-resolution model outputs within a cascade of uncertainty stemming from different models and scenarios. We draw on the combined experience of the author team and water manager workshop participants to identify salient water management metrics and evaluate whether they are credibly reproduced over the conterminous USA by the Community Earth System Model v2 (CESM2) Large Ensemble. We find that, while the exact values may not match the observations, aspects such as interannual variability can be reproduced by CESM2 for the mean wet day precipitation and length of dry spells. CESM2 also captures the proportion of total annual precipitation that derives from the heaviest rain days in watersheds that are not snow-dominated. Aggregating the 7 d mean daily runoff to two-digit Hydrological Unit Code (HUC2) watersheds also shows that rain-dominated regions capture the timing and interannual variability of annual maximum and minimum flows. We conclude that there is potential for far greater use of large-ensemble ESMs, such as CESM2, in long-range water management decisions to supplement high-resolution regional projections.

Tye, Mari R. (ORCID:0000000324911020)↗
NASA NTRS2022

Tracking the Impacts of Precipitation Phase Changes Through the Hydrologic Cycle in Snowy Regions: From Precipitation to Reservoir Storage

Cool season precipitation plays a critical role in regional water resource management in the western United States. Throughout the twenty-first century, regional precipitation will be impacted by rising temperatures and changing circulation patterns. Changes to precipitation magnitude remain challenging to project; however, precipitation phase is largely dependent on temperature, and temperature predictions from global climate models are generally in agreement. To understand the implications of this dependence, we investigate projected patterns in changing precipitation phase for mountain areas of the western United States over the twenty-first century and how shifts from snow to rain may impact runoff. We downscale two bias-corrected global climate models for historical and end-century decades with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional climate model to estimate precipitation phase and spatial patterns at high spatial resolution (9 km). For future decades, we use the RCP 8.5 scenario, which may be considered a very high baseline emissions scenario to quantify snow season differences over major mountain chains in the western U.S. Under this scenario, the average annual snowfall fraction over the Sierra Nevada decreases by >45% by the end of the century. In contrast, for the colder Rocky Mountains, the snowfall fraction decreases by 29%. Streamflow peaks in basins draining the Sierra Nevada are projected to arrive nearly a month earlier by the end of the century. By coupling WRF with a water resources model, we estimate that California reservoirs will shift towards earlier maximum storage by 1–2 months, suggesting that water management strategies will need to adapt to changes in streamflow magnitude and timing.

Melissa L. Wrzesien↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA'S Water Resources Element Within the Applied Sciences Program

The NASA Earth Systems Division has the primary responsibility for the Applied Science Program and the objective to accelerate the use of NASA science results in applications to help solve problems important to society and the economy. The primary goal of the NASA Applied Science Program is to improve future and current operational systems by infusing them with scientific knowledge of the Earth system gained through space-based observation, assimilation of new observations, and development and deployment of enabling technologies, systems, and capabilities. This paper discusses major problems facing water resources managers, including having timely and accurate data to drive their decision support tools. It then describes how NASA's science and space based satellites may be used to overcome this problem. Opportunities for the water resources community to participate in NASA's Water Resources Applications Program are described.

Toll, David↗
NASA NTRS2011

NASA's Applied Sciences for Water Resources

The Earth Systems Division within NASA has the primary responsibility for the Earth Science Applied Science Program and the objective to accelerate the use of NASA science results in applications to help solve problems important to society and the economy. The primary goal of the Earth Science Applied Science Program is to improve future and current operational systems by infusing them with scientific knowledge of the Earth system gained through space-based observation, assimilation of new observations, and development and deployment of enabling technologies, systems, and capabilities. This paper discusses one of the major problems facing water resources managers, that of having timely and accurate data to drive their decision support tools. It then describes how NASA?s science and space based satellites may be used to overcome this problem. Opportunities for the water resources community to participate in NASA?s Water Resources Applications Program are described.

Doorn, Bradley↗
DOE OSTI2025

Enhancing Multi-Step Reservoir Inflow Forecasting: A Time-Variant Encoder–Decoder Approach

Accurate reservoir inflow forecasting is vital for effective water resource management. Reliable forecasts enable operators to optimize storage and release strategies to meet competing sectoral demands—such as water supply, irrigation, and hydropower scheduling—while also mitigating flood and drought risks. To address this need, in this study, we propose a novel time-variant encoder–decoder (ED) model designed specifically to improve multi-step reservoir inflow forecasting, enabling accurate predictions of reservoir inflows up to seven days ahead. Unlike conventional ED-LSTM and recursive ED-LSTM models, which use fixed encoder parameters or recursively propagate predictions, our model incorporates an adaptive encoder structure that dynamically adjusts to evolving conditions at each forecast horizon. Additionally, we introduce the Expected Baseline Integrated Gradients (EB-IGs) method for variable importance analysis, enhancing interpretability of inflow by incorporating multiple baselines to capture a broader range of hydrometeorological conditions. The proposed methods are demonstrated at several diverse reservoirs across the United States. Our results show that they outperform traditional methods, particularly at longer lead times, while also offering insights into the key drivers of inflow forecasting. These advancements contribute to enhanced reservoir management through improved forecasting accuracy and practical decision-making insights under complex hydroclimatic conditions.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗