Application of Time-Variable Gravity to Groundwater Storage Fluctuations in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

In the Middle East, water shortage is becoming more and more serious due to the development of agriculture and industry and the increase in population. Saudi Arabia is one of the most water-consuming countries in the Middle East, and urgent measures are needed. Therefore, we integrated data from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), and other relevant data to estimate changes in groundwater storage in Saudi Arabia. The findings are as follows: 1) Average annual precipitation (AAP) was calculated to be 76.4, 90, and 72 mm for the entire period, Period I (April 2002 to March 2006) and Period II (April 2006 to July 2016), respectively. 2) The average TWS variation was estimated to be −7.94 ± 0.22, −1.39 ± 1.35, and −8.38 ± 0.34 mm/yr for the entire period, Period I and Period II, respectively. 3) The average groundwater storage was estimated to be +1.56 ± 1.35 mm/yr during Period I. 4) The higher average groundwater depletion rate was calculated to be −6.05 ± 0.34 mm/yr during Period II. 5) Both soil texture and surface streams in the study area promote lateral flow and carry surface water to the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea. 6) During Period II, average annual recharge rates were estimated to be +9.48 ± 2.37 and +4.20 ± 0.15 km3 for Saudi Arabia and the Saq aquifer, respectively. 7) This integrated approach is an informative and cost-effective technique to assess the variability of groundwater resources in large areas more efficiently.

The Groundwater Flow Behavior and the Recharge in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System during the Wet and Arid Periods

“…As shown by relatively high hydraulic conductivities, this zone could provide a preferential groundwater flow conduit from the Kufra to the Dakhla Basin (Kufra area: 5 × 10 −5 m/s; north Daklha area: 5 × 10 −5 -3.42 × 10 −5 m/s; [58] and thickness of the Paleozoic-Lower Cretaceous sandstones (Kufra area: ~2.5-4 km; north Daklha area: ~2-3.5 km) [12,42] within this zone compared to its surroundings. The progressive increase in 36 Cl groundwater ages (Figure 13) along the shear zone from Siwa (444 ky) to Qattara (558 ky) depression and from west Farafra (395 ky) to north Bahariya (1035 ky) strongly supports the flow sub-parallel to the shear zone. They also indicate relatively high flow velocities (Siwa to N. Baharyia: 1.68 × 10 −8 m/s; W. Farafra to N. Baharyia: 1.27 × 10 −8 m/s) along its zone in Egypt, which are consistent with our areal distribution of the hydraulic conductivity of the sandstones within the Nubian Aquifer with a different order of magnitude.…”

Integrated Geophysical Assessment of Groundwater Potential in Southwestern Saudi Arabia

“…For instance, GRACE and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) data, with other observed data were used to differentiate the Mississippi River basin's water budget and came up with respectable results (Yeh et al, 1998;Yeh et al, 2006;Rodell et al, 2007). Furthermore, some studies in the Arab world have combined GRACE with other relevant information to quantify groundwater storage variability and estimate aquifer recharge and depletion rates (Mohamed et al, 2014;Mohamed et al, 2015;Fallatah et al, 2017;Mohamed et al, 2017;Fallatah et al, 2019;Mohamed, 2019;Mohamed, 2020a;Mohamed, 2020b;Mohamed, 2020c;Mohamed and Gonçalvès, 2021;Taha et al, 2021;Mohamed et al, 2022b). GRACE can be used to fill the blanks in hydrologically monitoring data (Famiglietti et al, 2011).…”

Geometry of the Magma Chamber and Curie Point Depth Beneath Hawaii Island: Inferences From Magnetic and Gravity Data

“…Geophysical data collected from the ground and from the airborne were commonly employed in groundwater investigations and subsurface geology (e.g., Meneisy and Al Deep, 2020;Mohamed and Abu El Ella, 2021;Al Deep et al, 2021). On the other hand, Global data from the Earth Gravitational Model and the Earth Magnetic Anomaly Grid have been widely used for crustal studies and the depth to the bottom of the magnetic layer (e.g., Idárraga-García and Vargas, 2018;, whereas gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment mission have been successfully applied for estimating mass transport and distribution in the Earth's fluid (e.g., Mohamed et al, 2017;Mohamed, 2019;Mohamed, 2020a;Mohamed, 2020b;Mohamed, 2020c;Taha et al, 2021;Mohamed and Gonçalvès, 2021;Mohamed et al, 2022).…”