Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1747-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-1747-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description article
| 
09 Mar 2026
Data description article |
| 09 Mar 2026
| 09 Mar 2026
Multidecadal reconstruction of terrestrial water storage changes by combining pre-GRACE satellite observations and climate data
Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformation, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Benjamin D. Gutknecht
Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformation, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Anno Löcher
Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformation, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Jürgen Kusche
Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformation, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
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Viola Steidl, Jürgen Kusche, Fupeng Li, and Xiao Xiang Zhu
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2312, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2312, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
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Terrestrial water storage is an indicator of water availability, but forecasting its changes is difficult as it depends on processes acting at varying spatial and temporal scales. We introduce a hierarchical machine learning model that represents the Earth at two scales, the grid scale and the hydrological basin scale, to forecast global water storage changes up to six months ahead. We identify where model skill fades and which challenges to address to improve its forecasts.
Bernd Uebbing, Kristin Vielberg, Roelof Rietbroek, Bene Aschenneller, Armin Köhl, and Jürgen Kusche
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-368, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-368, 2026
Preprint under review for ESSD
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About 90% of the excess heat in the Earth system is stored within the oceans leading to significant ocean warming and corresponding (volumetric) sea level change. We quantify global and regional ocean heat content change (OHC) by consistently combining space-geodetic altimetry, gravity and in situ temperature profile observations. Our results agree well with published estimates and highlight the benefit of consistently processing space-geodetic datasets for deriving high quality OHC estimates.
Anne Springer, Gabriëlle De Lannoy, Matthew Rodell, Yorck Ewerdwalbesloh, Helena Gerdener, Mehdi Khaki, Bailing Li, Fupeng Li, Maike Schumacher, Natthachet Tangdamrongsub, Mohammad J. Tourian, Wanshu Nie, and Jürgen Kusche
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 985–1022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-985-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-985-2026, 2026
Short summary
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The GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) and GRACE Follow-On satellites monitor changes in Earth's water storage by observing gravity variations. By integrating these observations into hydrological models through data assimilation, estimates of groundwater, soil moisture, and hydrological trends are improved, helping to monitor droughts, floods, and human water use. This review highlights recent advances in GRACE data assimilation, identifies key challenges, and discusses future directions with upcoming satellite missions.
Loudi Yap, Jürgen Kusche, Bamidele Oloruntoba, Helena Gerdener, and Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4600, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4600, 2025
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Rainfall shifts in West Africa strongly affect the agricultural productivity, making it vital to understand how much water is stored in the soil. We investigated soil moisture from 2003 to 2019 using satellite, models and in-situ data. Results show that ESA CCI v0.81 tracks local conditions best, while CLM5.0 and GLWS2.0 capture broader climate patterns. By linking surface signals to deeper layers, we improved insight into root-zone water, helping to guide farming and water planning.
Torsten Kanzow, Angelika Humbert, Thomas Mölg, Mirko Scheinert, Matthias Braun, Hans Burchard, Francesca Doglioni, Philipp Hochreuther, Martin Horwath, Oliver Huhn, Maria Kappelsberger, Jürgen Kusche, Erik Loebel, Katrina Lutz, Ben Marzeion, Rebecca McPherson, Mahdi Mohammadi-Aragh, Marco Möller, Carolyne Pickler, Markus Reinert, Monika Rhein, Martin Rückamp, Janin Schaffer, Muhammad Shafeeque, Sophie Stolzenberger, Ralph Timmermann, Jenny Turton, Claudia Wekerle, and Ole Zeising
The Cryosphere, 19, 1789–1824, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1789-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-1789-2025, 2025
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The Greenland Ice Sheet represents the second-largest contributor to global sea-level rise. We quantify atmosphere, ice and ocean processes related to the mass balance of glaciers in northeast Greenland, focusing on Greenland’s largest floating ice tongue, the 79° N Glacier. We find that together, the different in situ and remote sensing observations and model simulations reveal a consistent picture of a coupled atmosphere–ice sheet–ocean system that has entered a phase of major change.
Petra Döll, Howlader Mohammad Mehedi Hasan, Kerstin Schulze, Helena Gerdener, Lara Börger, Somayeh Shadkam, Sebastian Ackermann, Seyed-Mohammad Hosseini-Moghari, Hannes Müller Schmied, Andreas Güntner, and Jürgen Kusche
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2259–2295, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2259-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2259-2024, 2024
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Currently, global hydrological models do not benefit from observations of model output variables to reduce and quantify model output uncertainty. For the Mississippi River basin, we explored three approaches for using both streamflow and total water storage anomaly observations to adjust the parameter sets in a global hydrological model. We developed a method for considering the observation uncertainties to quantify the uncertainty of model output and provide recommendations.
Matthias O. Willen, Martin Horwath, Eric Buchta, Mirko Scheinert, Veit Helm, Bernd Uebbing, and Jürgen Kusche
The Cryosphere, 18, 775–790, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-775-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-775-2024, 2024
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Shrinkage of the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) leads to sea level rise. Satellite gravimetry measures AIS mass changes. We apply a new method that overcomes two limitations: low spatial resolution and large uncertainties due to the Earth's interior mass changes. To do so, we additionally include data from satellite altimetry and climate and firn modelling, which are evaluated in a globally consistent way with thoroughly characterized errors. The results are in better agreement with independent data.
Martin Horwath, Benjamin D. Gutknecht, Anny Cazenave, Hindumathi Kulaiappan Palanisamy, Florence Marti, Ben Marzeion, Frank Paul, Raymond Le Bris, Anna E. Hogg, Inès Otosaka, Andrew Shepherd, Petra Döll, Denise Cáceres, Hannes Müller Schmied, Johnny A. Johannessen, Jan Even Øie Nilsen, Roshin P. Raj, René Forsberg, Louise Sandberg Sørensen, Valentina R. Barletta, Sebastian B. Simonsen, Per Knudsen, Ole Baltazar Andersen, Heidi Ranndal, Stine K. Rose, Christopher J. Merchant, Claire R. Macintosh, Karina von Schuckmann, Kristin Novotny, Andreas Groh, Marco Restano, and Jérôme Benveniste
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 411–447, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-411-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-411-2022, 2022
Short summary
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Global mean sea-level change observed from 1993 to 2016 (mean rate of 3.05 mm yr−1) matches the combined effect of changes in water density (thermal expansion) and ocean mass. Ocean-mass change has been assessed through the contributions from glaciers, ice sheets, and land water storage or directly from satellite data since 2003. Our budget assessments of linear trends and monthly anomalies utilise new datasets and uncertainty characterisations developed within ESA's Climate Change Initiative.
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Short summary
Terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA) enable the study of changes in water storage. However, observational records of TWSA are limited to 2002 onwards. To overcome this limitation, we provide a long-term TWSA data set for the global land from 1984 to 2020 by combining a data-driven approach with time‑variable gravity observations from geodetic tracking data. The data set retains seasonal consistency and adds reliable long‑term signals due to the data combination.
Terrestrial water storage anomalies (TWSA) enable the study of changes in water storage....
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