Seminar

As one of the most important land formations on the earth, karst landscapes play a critical role in regulating the hydrological cycle and climate from the regional, basin to continental scales. The Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites are capable of monitoring groundwater storage anomaly over complex aquifers. This thesis contributes to a better understanding of karst hydrology and hydrogeology using GRACE data at different spatiotemporal scales with the focuses on the signal leakage correction, groundwater storage anomaly estimation, water budget assessment, interbasin groundwater flow estimation, long-term drought and flood characterization, and hydro-climatic teleconnection analysis. GRACE-based results indicate that more karstic areas exhibit quicker groundwater recharge and stronger groundwater discharge capability even during drought periods. A better water budget closure is achieved when considering interbasin groundwater flow. Reservoir storage change influences quantification of drought severity, flood potenial, and hydro-climatic teleconnection from a long-term perspective. El Niño–Southern Oscillation strongly influences precipitation and total water storage anomalies in the Pearl River Basin through East Asia monsoon. The drought severity is intensifying in the Pearl River Basin over the past four decades. The methods and findings are beneficial to basin-scale hydrologic modeling and water security management.

Additional information: Mr. Huang Zhiyong, huangzy9084@126.com