O’Neill et al. (2026) Spatially refined satellite gravimetry captures human signatures in global terrestrial water storage trends

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-14
• Authors: Mary Michael O’Neill, Matthew Rodell, Bryant Loomis
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2600775123

Research Groups

• NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
• University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Short Summary

This study assesses global terrestrial water storage trends from 2002 to 2025 using refined satellite gravimetry data and identifies significant associations with human activities. The research reveals that humans account for a substantial share of freshwater depletion worldwide.

Objective

• Investigate the impact of human activities on global terrestrial water storage trends

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, with focus on 40 identified trend hotspots
• Temporal Scale: April 2002 to November 2025

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Stacked regression of Level-1B intersatellite ranging data
• Data sources: Satellite gravimetry (e.g., GRACE, GRACE-FO)

Main Results

• Identified 40 TWS trend hotspots with significant associations with anthropogenic drivers
• Cumulative TWS losses (3,122 Gt) exceeded gains (2,432 Gt)
• Regional trend magnitudes were on average 33% larger than traditional regression of monthly mascons

Contributions

• Provided a refined approach to satellite gravimetry data analysis for tracking decadal freshwater change with high spatial fidelity
• Revealed that humans account for a significant share of the spatial variability in TWS trends worldwide, except in Australia

Funding

• NASA's Earth Science Division (Grant NNX16AC96G)
• National Science Foundation (Award #1736111)

Citation

@article{ONeill2026Spatially,
  author = {O’Neill, Mary Michael and Rodell, Matthew and Loomis, Bryant},
  title = {Spatially refined satellite gravimetry captures human signatures in global terrestrial water storage trends},
  journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1073/pnas.2600775123},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2600775123}
}