Science

Change in Water Storage Maps Added to Living Atlas

A new image service has been added to the Living Atlas of the World. It shows monthly change in water storage, as derived from NASA’s GLDAS dataset.

Change in storage is calculated by subtracting the water output (runoff and evaporation) from water input (rainfall). Where the input is higher than the output, this means water is being stored in the landscape. Where output is higher than the input, storage is being depleted.

This image service is time-enabled, allowing you to move through the seasons, month by month, and visualize the ebb and flow of water over the past 18 years.

Depletion is not necessarily a bad thing, of course. It is common for landscapes to store water during the rainy season, and dry out before the rains come again. The ecology of a region is adapted to this natural water cycle. A problem only arises when that cycle breaks. Perhaps the summers become too hot, or the rains come less often.

Changes like these are becoming more common as global climate cycles are disrupted by anthropogenic influence. In order to help understand these how our influence is affecting the regional water cycles, Esri built the Water Balance App […]

More about the water cycle:

Figuring out the water cycle… still

Severe Global Water Cycle Shifts Due to Abrupt Climate Change

How large-scale water cycles influence earthquakes in California

We can see how humans have altered Earth’s water resources

Water shortages can destroy cultures: Interplay between society and hydrological effects

Chief Arvol Looking Horse’s Message on Water

Here Comes the Sea: The Struggle to Keep the Ocean out of California’s Coastal Aquifers

Summary
Article Name
Change in Water Storage Maps added to the Living Atlas
Description
A new image service has been added to the Living Atlas of the World. It shows monthly changes in global water storage maps, using data from NASA's GLDAS dataset. This image service is time-enabled, allowing you to move through the seasons, month by month, and visualize the ebb and flow of water over the past 18 years.
Author
Publisher Name
ESRI - ArcGIS Blog

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