[1] Local water storage changes (WSC) are a key component of many hydrological issues, but their quantification is associated with a high level of uncertainty. High precision in situ gravity measurements are influenced by these WSC. This study evaluates the influence of local WSC (estimated using hydrological techniques) on gravity observations at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell, Germany. WSC are comprehensively measured in all relevant storage components, namely groundwater, saprolite, soil, topsoil, and snow storage, and their gravity response is calculated. Total local WSC are derived, and uncertainties are assessed. With the exception of snow, all storage components have gravity responses of the same order of magnitude and are therefore relevant for gravity observations. The comparison of the total gravity response of local WSC to the gravity residuals obtained from a superconducting gravimeter shows similarities in both short-term and seasonal dynamics. A large proportion of the gravity residuals can be explained by local WSC. The results demonstrate the limitations of measuring total local WSC using hydrological methods and the potential use of in situ temporal gravity measurements for this purpose. Nevertheless, due to their integrative nature, gravity data must be interpreted with great care in hydrological studies.Citation: Creutzfeldt, B., A. Güntner, H. Thoss, B. Merz, and H. Wziontek (2010), Measuring the effect of local water storage changes on in situ gravity observations: Case study of the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell, Germany, Water Resour. Res., 46, W08531,

S U M M A R YTo address one of the central questions of plate tectonics-How do large transform systems work and what are their typical features?-seismic investigations across the Dead Sea Transform (DST), the boundary between the African and Arabian plates in the Middle East, were conducted for the first time. A major component of these investigations was a combined reflection/refraction survey across the territories of Palestine, Israel and Jordan. The main results of this study are: (1) The seismic basement is offset by 3-5 km under the DST, (2) The DST cuts through the entire crust, broadening in the lower crust, (3) Strong lower crustal reflectors are imaged only on one side of the DST, (4) The seismic velocity sections show a steady increase in the depth of the crust-mantle transition (Moho) from ∼26 km at the Mediterranean to ∼39 km under the Jordan highlands, with only a small but visible, asymmetric topography of the Moho under the DST. These observations can be linked to the left-lateral movement of 105 km of the two plates in the last 17 Myr, accompanied by strong deformation within a narrow zone cutting through the entire crust. Comparing the DST and the San Andreas Fault (SAF) system, a strong asymmetry in subhorizontal lower crustal reflectors and a deep reaching deformation zone both occur around the DST and the SAF. The fact that such lower crustal reflectors and deep deformation zones are observed in such different transform systems suggests that these structures are possibly fundamental features of large transform plate boundaries.

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Abstract. Long-term monitoring of water resources and climate parameters at the scale of river basins requires networks of continuously operated in-situ stations. Since 2009, GFZ and CAIAG, in cooperation with the National Hydrometeorological Services (NHMS) of Central Asia, are establishing such a regional monitoring network in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and lately Afghanistan to collect observations of meteorological and hydrological parameters and to deliver them to the end-users for operational tasks and scientific studies. The newly developed and installed remotely operated multi-parameter stations (ROMPS) do not only monitor standard meteorological and hydrological parameters, but also deliver Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data for atmospheric sounding as well as tectonic studies. Additionally, three stations integrate seismic sensors for earthquake monitoring. The observational data from the ROMPS is transmitted nominally in near-real time, but at least once a day to a centralized geo-database infrastructure for long-term storage and data redistribution. Users can access the data manually using a web-interface or automatically using SOS requests; in addition, data is planed to be distributed to the NHMS through standard communication and data exchange channels.

Abstractwith high-quality geodetic GNSS receivers. The design of the buoys was particularly suited to