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Total Drainable Water Storage (TDWS) represents the part of terrestrial water storage that can naturally drain from a river basin. It is a key indicator for understanding basin hydrological behavior, water availability, and the response of catchments to floods and droughts.
TDWS cannot be observed directly and is currently estimated using relationships between river discharge (Q) and Total Water Storage Anomalies (TWSA) derived from the GRACE and GRACE-FO missions. Due to limited spatial resolution, measurement noise, and coarse temporal sampling, these estimates remain uncertain, particularly in medium-sized basins and regions with fast or complex hydrological dynamics.
Future satellite gravity missions such as NGGM and MAGIC offer higher spatial resolution, lower noise, and improved temporal sampling. These advances are expected to significantly enhance the observability of basin-scale water storage changes and improve TDWS estimation across a wider range of hydrological conditions.
Tasks of the TDWS Working Group:
The TDWS working group within SING aims to assess the added value of NGGM and MAGIC for TDWS estimation by:
Characterizing basin hydrological behavior: Identifying different hydrological response types and evaluating whether higher-quality gravity data enable a clearer distinction between basin behaviors.
Improving storage–runoff relationships: Assessing whether enhanced spatial and temporal resolution leads to more stable runoff–storage relationships and more reliable estimates of drainage and recharge time lags.
Reducing uncertainty in TDWS estimates: Evaluating how lower noise levels and improved sampling translate into more robust TDWS parameters, especially in basins with weak or complex signals.
Extending TDWS applicability to smaller basins: Determining the basin-size limits for meaningful TDWS estimation and assessing how finer spatial resolution improves interpretation in heterogeneous catchments.
Quantifying the added value of next-generation missions: Comparing TDWS estimates derived from simulated GRACE-C, NGGM, and MAGIC data using a common TDWS processing framework to clearly identify mission-specific benefits and remaining limitations.
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