Anjaneyulu et al. (2026) On the evaluation of global terrestrial water storage and divergent governing factors centring policymaking

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Environmental Management
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-01-01
• Authors: Roniki Anjaneyulu, Abhishek
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.128455

Research Groups

Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India

Short Summary

This study compares GRACE(-FO) Mascon trends with Mean Field Trend (MFT) across global land and 34 regions, analyzing climatic and anthropogenic influences in five hotspot areas and validating with in-situ data. It finds significant discrepancies between MFT and Mascon trends, with MFT often overestimating water gains, and demonstrates that policy interventions can facilitate groundwater recovery.

Objective

• To compare GRACE(-FO) Mascon trends with Mean Field Trend (MFT) for global terrestrial water storage, analyze the governing climatic and anthropogenic factors in hotspot regions, and evaluate the impact of policy interventions on groundwater recovery using in-situ observations.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global land, 34 Rodell key regions, and five specific hotspot regions (ROIs).
• Temporal Scale: From 2002 onwards (spanning the GRACE and GRACE-FO missions).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Mean Field Trend (MFT) for comparison with Mascon trends.
• Data sources: GRACE satellite mission, GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) satellite mission (Mascon products), in-situ groundwater observations.

Main Results

• Notable differences exist between MFT and Mascon trend values, particularly in regions with large ice masses.
• MFT overestimates positive trends (water gains) in 23 regions and underestimates negative trends (water loss) in 9 regions.
• The Mascon trend range is within the MFT range in 30 regions, indicating a general overestimation tendency by MFT.
• Climate influence primarily governed Terrestrial Water Storage Anomaly (TWSA) trends in ROI4 with a 73.4 % contribution.
• Anthropogenic influence dominated TWSA trends in ROI3 and ROI1 with 76.0 % and 64.0 % contributions, respectively.
• Policy interventions and recharge initiatives, validated with extensive in-situ groundwater data, led to cases of groundwater recovery in the selected ROIs, demonstrating potential for sustainable aquifer systems.

Contributions

• Provides a comprehensive comparison of GRACE(-FO) Mascon trends with Mean Field Trend (MFT) at global and regional scales, highlighting significant discrepancies and the overestimation tendency of MFT.
• Quantifies the relative contributions of climatic and anthropogenic factors to Terrestrial Water Storage Anomaly (TWSA) trends in critical hotspot regions.
• Demonstrates the effectiveness of groundwater-related policy and recharge interventions in promoting groundwater recovery, validated by in-situ observations, offering insights for regional water managers and policymakers.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Anjaneyulu2026evaluation,
  author = {Anjaneyulu, Roniki and Abhishek},
  title = {On the evaluation of global terrestrial water storage and divergent governing factors centring policymaking},
  journal = {Journal of Environmental Management},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.128455},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.128455}
}