skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Knappe, Ellen"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. These datasets accompany a publication in Geophysical Research Letters by Martens et al. (2024), entitled: "GNSS Geodesy Quantifies Water-Storage Gains and Drought Improvements in California Spurred by Atmospheric Rivers." Please refer to the manuscript and supporting information for additional details.Dataset 1: Seasonal Changes in TWS based on the Mean and Median of the Solution SetWe estimate net gains in water storage during the fall and winter of each year (October to March) using the mean TWS solutions from all nine inversion products, subtracting the average storage for October from the average storage for March in the following year. One-sigma standard deviations are computed as the square root of the sum of the variances for October and for March. The variance in each month is computed based on the nine independent estimates of mean monthly storage (see “GNSS Analysis and Inversion” in the Supporting Information).The dataset includes net gains in water storage for both the Sierra Nevada and the SST watersheds (see header lines). For each watershed, results are provided in units of volume (km3) and in units of equivalent water height (mm). Furthermore, for each watershed, we also provide the total storage gains based on non-detrended and linearly detrended time series. In columns four and five, respectively, we provide estimates of snow water equivalent (SWE) from SNODAS (National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center, 2023) and water-storage changes in surface reservoirs from CDEC (California Data Exchange Center, 2023). In the final column, we provide estimates of net gains in subsurface storage (soil moisture plus groundwater), which are computed by subtracting SWE and reservoir storage from total storage.For each data block, the columns are: (1) time period (October of the starting year to March of the following year); (2) average gain in total water storage constrained by nine inversions of GNSS data; (3) one-sigma standard deviation in the average gain in total water storage; (4) gain in snow water equivalent, computed by subtracting the average snow storage in October from the average snow storage in March of the following year; (5) gain in reservoir storage (CDEC database; within the boundaries of each watershed), computed by subtracting the average reservoir storage in October from the average reservoir storage in March of the following year; and (6) average gain in subsurface water storage, estimated as the average gain in total water storage minus the average gain in snow storage minus the gain in reservoir storage.For the period from October 2022 to March 2023, we also compute mean gains in total water storage using daily estimates of TWS. Here, we subtract the average storage for the first week in October 2022 (1-7 October) from the average storage for the last week in March 2023 (26 March – 1 April). The one-sigma standard deviation is computed as the square root of the sum of the variances for the first week in October and the last week in March. The variance in each week is computed based on the nine independent estimates of daily storage over seven days (63 values per week). The storage gains for 2022-2023 computed using these methods are distinguished in the datafile by an asterisk (2022-2023*; final row in each data section).Dataset 1a provides estimates of storage changes based on the mean and standard deviation of the solution set. Dataset 1b provides estimates of storage changes based on the median and inter-quartile range of the solution set.Dataset 2: Estimated Changes in TWS in the Sierra NevadaChanges in TWS (units of volume: km3) in the Sierra Nevada watersheds. The first column represents the date (YYYY-MM-DD). For monthly solutions, the TWS solutions apply to the month leading up to that date. The remaining nine columns represent each of the nine solutions described in the text. “UM” represents the University of Montana, “SIO” represents the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and “JPL” represents the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “NGL” refers to the use of GNSS analysis products from the Nevada Geodetic Laboratory, “CWU” refers to Central Washington University, and “MEaSUREs” refers to the Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments program. The time series have not been detrended.We highlight that we have added changes in reservoir storage (see Dataset 8) back into the JPL solutions, since reservoir storage had been modeled and removed from the GNSS time series prior to inversion in the JPL workflow (see “Detailed Description of Methods” in the Supporting Information). Thus, the storage values presented here for JPL differ slightly from storage values pulled directly from Dataset 6 and integrated over the area of the Sierra Nevada watersheds.Dataset 3: Estimated Changes in TWS in the Sacramento-San Joaquin-Tulare BasinSame as Dataset 2, except that data apply to the Sacramento-San Joaquin-Tulare (SST) Basin.Dataset 4: Inversion Products (SIO)Inversion solutions (NetCDF format) for TWS changes across the western US from January 2006 through March 2023. The products were produced at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) using the methods described in the Supporting Information.Dataset 5: Inversion Products (UM)Inversion solutions (NetCDF format) for TWS changes across the western US from January 2006 through March 2023. The products were produced at the University of Montana (UM) using the methods described in the Supporting Information.Dataset 6: Inversion Products (JPL)Inversion solutions (NetCDF format) for TWS changes across the western US from January 2006 through March 2023. The products were produced at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) using the methods described in the Supporting Information.Dataset 7: Lists of Excluded StationsStations are excluded from an inversion for TWS change based on a variety of criteria (detailed in the Supporting Information), including poroelastic behavior, high noise levels, and susceptibility to volcanic deformation. This dataset provides lists of excluded stations from each institution generating inversion products (SIO, UM, JPL).Dataset 8: Lists of Reservoirs and LakesLists of reservoirs and lakes from the California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) (California Data Exchange Center, 2023), which are shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the main manuscript. In the interest of figure clarity, Figure 1 depicts only those reservoirs that exhibited volume changes of at least 0.15 km3 during the first half of WY23.Dataset 8a includes all reservoirs and lakes in California that exhibited volume changes of at least 0.15 km3 between October 2022 and March 2023. The threshold of 0.15 km3 represents a natural break in the distribution of volume changes at all reservoirs and lakes in California over that period (169 reservoirs and lakes in total). Most of the 169 reservoirs and lakes exhibited volume changes near zero km3. Datasets 8b and 8c include subsets of reservoirs and lakes (from Dataset 8a) that fall within the boundaries of the Sierra Nevada and SST watersheds.Furthermore, in the JPL data-processing and inversion workflow (see “Detailed Description of Methods” in the Supporting Information), surface displacements induced by volume changes in select lakes and reservoirs are modeled and removed from GNSS time series prior to inversion. The water-storage changes in the lakes and reservoirs are then added back into the solutions for water storage, derived from the inversion of GNSS data. Dataset 8d includes the list of reservoirs used in the JPL workflow.Dataset 9: Interseismic Strain Accumulation along the Cascadia Subduction ZoneJPL and UM remove interseismic strain accumulation associated with locking of the Cascadia subduction zone using an updated version of the Li et al. model (Li et al., 2018); see Supporting Information Section 2d. The dataset lists the east, north, and up velocity corrections (in the 4th, 5th, and 6th columns of the dataset, respectively) at each station; units are mm/year. The station ID, latitude, and longitude are listed in columns one, two, and three, respectively, of the dataset.Dataset 10: Days Impacted by Atmospheric RiversA list of days impacted by atmospheric rivers within (a) the HUC-2 boundary for California from 1 January 2008 until 1 April 2023 [Dataset 10a] and (b) the Sierra Nevada and SST watersheds from 1 October 2022 until 1 April 2023 [Dataset 10b]. File formats: [decimal year; integrated water-vapor transport (IVT) in kg m-1 s-1; AR category; and calendar date as a two-digit year followed by a three-character month followed by a two-digit day]. The AR category reflects the peak intensity anywhere within the watershed. We use the detection and classification methods of (Ralph et al., 2019; Rutz et al., 2014, 2019). See also Supporting Information Section 2i.Dataset 10c provides a list of days and times when ARs made landfall along the California coast between October 1980 and September 2023, based on the MERRA-2 reanalysis using the methods of (Rutz et al., 2014, 2019). Only coastal grid cells are included. File format: [year, month, day, hour, latitude, longitude, and IVT in kg m-1 s-1]. Values are sorted by time (year, month, day, hour) and then by latitude. See also Supporting Information Section 2g. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract Storage-discharge relationships and dynamic changes in storage connectivity remain key unknowns in understanding and predicting watershed behavior. In this study, we use Global Positioning System measurements of load-induced Earth surface displacement as a proxy for total water storage change in four climatologically diverse mountain watersheds in the western United States. Comparing total water storage estimates with stream-connected storage derived from hydrograph analysis, we find that each of the investigated watersheds exhibits a characteristic seasonal pattern of connection and disconnection between total and stream-connected storage. We investigate how the degree and timing of watershed-scale connectivity is related to the timing of precipitation and seasonal changes in dominant hydrologic processes. Our results show that elastic deformation of the Earth due to water loading is a powerful new tool for elucidating dynamic storage connectivity and watershed discharge response across scales in space and time. 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract Atmospheric rivers (ARs) deliver significant and essential precipitation to the western United States (US) with consequential interannual variability. The intensity and frequency of ARs strongly influence reservoir levels, mountain snowpack, and groundwater recharge, which are key drivers of water‐resource availability and natural hazards. Between October 2022 and April 2023, western states experienced exceptionally heavy precipitation from several families of powerful ARs. Using observations of surface‐loading deformation from Global Navigation Satellite Systems, we find that terrestrial water‐storage gains exceeded 100% of normal within vital California watersheds. Independent water‐storage solutions derived from different data‐analysis and inversion methods provide an important measure of precision. The sustained storage increases, which we show are closely associated with ARs at daily‐to‐weekly timescales, alleviated both meteorological and hydrological drought conditions in the region, with a lag in hydrological‐drought improvements. Quantifying water‐storage recovery associated with extreme precipitation after drought advances understanding of an increasingly variable hydrologic cycle. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract We installed a purpose‐built network of co‐located Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations and meteorological instrumentation to investigate water storage in a high‐mountain watershed along the Idaho‐Montana border. Twelve GNSS stations are distributed across the Selway‐Lochsa watersheds at approximately 30–40 km spacing, filling a critical observational gap between localized point measurements and regional geodetic and satellite data sets. The unique coupling of geodetic and hydrologic observations in this network enables direct comparison between co‐located GNSS measurements of the elastic response of the solid Earth and local changes in measured water storage. This network is specifically designed to address questions of hydrologic storage and movement at the mountain watershed scale. Here, we describe technical details of the network and its deployment; introduce new hydrologic, meteorologic, and geodetic data sets recorded by the network; process and analyze the source data (e.g., time series of daily three‐dimensional GNSS site positions, removal of non‐hydrologic signals); and characterize basic empirical relationships between water storage, water movement, and GNSS‐inferred surface displacement. The network shows preliminary evidence for spatial differences in displacement resulting from a range of snow loads across elevations, but longer and more complete data records are needed to support these initial findings. We also provide examples of additional scientific applications of this network, including estimations of snow depth and snow water equivalent from GNSS multipath reflectometry. Finally, we consider the challenges, limitations, and opportunities of deploying GNSS and weather stations at high elevations with heavy snowpack and offer ideas for technical improvements. 
    more » « less