Earth ID: 10764

India's Disappearing Water

Story by Kayvon Sharghi Released on July 26, 2011

During the past decade, groundwater beneath the northern Indian states of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan has decreased by more than 88 million acre-feet. That's nearly eight times the amount held in Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States. Now at risk of experiencing severe shortages of this vital resource are the 120 million inhabitants of those regions. Using NASA's twin GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites, scientists measured tiny shifts in the Earth's gravitational field to determine the rate of groundwater change in India. Areas in red had slightly less mass due to a net loss of groundwater and therefore exhibited a weaker gravitational pull on the orbiting satellites. Areas in blue had greater mass and a stronger gravitational pull due to a net gain. Watch the data visualization in the first video below to see how India's groundwater supply declined over the six-year period between 2002 and 2008.

For More Information

NASA.gov

Story Credits

Visualizers/Animators:
Trent L. Schindler (USRA)
Chris Meaney (HTSI)

Interviewee:
Matthew Rodell (NASA/GSFC)

Producer:
Michelle Williams (UMBC)

Lead Scientist:
Matthew Rodell (NASA/GSFC)

Lead Writer:
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10764

Keywords:
SVS >> App
NASA Science >> Earth