Title
Groundwater Depletion in the West Liaohe River Basin, China and Its Implications Revealed by GRACE and In Situ Measurements.
Abstract
The West Liaohe River Basin (WLRB) is one of the most sensitive areas to climate change in China and an important grain production base in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Groundwater depletion in this region is becoming a critical issue. Here, we used the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data and in situ well observations to estimate groundwater storage (GWS) variations and discussed the driving factors of GWS changes in the WLRB. GRACE detects a GWS decline rate of -0.92 +/- 0.49 km(3)/yr in the WLRB during 2005-2011, consistent with the estimate from in situ observations (-0.96 +/- 0.19 km (3)/yr). This long-term GWS depletion is attributed to reduced precipitation and extensive groundwater overexploitation in the 2000s. Long-term groundwater level observations and reconstructed total water storage variations since 1980 show favorable agreement with precipitation anomalies at interannual timescales, both of which are significantly influenced by the El Nifio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Generally, the WLRB receives more/less precipitation during the El Nifio/La Nifia periods. One of the strongest El Nifho events on record in 1997-1998 and a subsequent strong La Nifia drastically transform the climate of WLRB into a decade-long drought period, and accelerate the groundwater depletion in the WLRB after 1998. This study demonstrates the significance of integrating satellite observations, ground-based measurements, and climatological data for interpreting regional GWS changes from a long-term perspective.
Year
DOI
Venue
2018
10.3390/rs10040493
REMOTE SENSING
Keywords
Field
DocType
groundwater storage,terrestrial water storage,satellite gravimetry,GRACE,reduced precipitation,groundwater overexploitation,West Liaohe River,ENSO
Overexploitation,Drainage basin,Groundwater,Remote sensing,Driving factors,Climate change in China,Water storage,La Niña,Geology,Climatology,Precipitation
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
10
4
2072-4292
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
4
0.74
1
Authors
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Yulong Zhong141.07
Min Zhong261.95
Wei Feng372.77
Zizhan Zhang462.05
Yingchun Shen541.07
Dingcheng Wu640.74