Gravity probe shows groundwater reserves slipping away
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Drought bites deeply – this year's corn crop in Missouri Valley, Iowa (Photo: USDA and Dave Kosling)
The two GRACE satellites being deployed into their polar orbit (Image: GRACE/NASA)
Depletion of groundwater in India's breadbasket (Image: GRACE/NASA)
GRACE gravity variation plot over Europe and Africa (Image: GRACE/NASA)
GRACE gravity variation plot over Asia (Image: GRACE/NASA)
GRACE's plot of gravity over the Americas (Image: GRACE/NASA)
The condition of the soil and groundwater over the United States on September 17, 2012 (Image: GRACE/NASA)
Recently, drought seems to be a fact of life. As the lead photograph poignantly illustrates, most of the U.S. has been struggling with serious levels of drought for the past several years. Worldwide, drought affected areas include Europe, India and Pakistan, Russia, much of Africa, South America – the list goes on. But when the rains start again, everyone expresses great relief, not realizing that long-term depletion of groundwater reserves is part of the price for surviving drought. It was with this in mind that GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), a joint U.S. and German space project, was designed a decade ago.
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