JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Earth
.

NASA's TES Satellite Instrument Gives New Insight into Water Cycle

Sep 03, 2015
A new study clarifies what happens to precipitation that falls on land.
Credit: NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory

NASA satellite measurements have given scientists a better understanding of what happens to rain and snow that fall on land, with a few surprising findings.

Fast Facts:

› A new study uses NASA satellite measurements of hydrogen to clarify what happens to precipitation on land after it falls.

› Plants appear to be using less water than previously estimated. This could mean that there's not as much plant growth worldwide as we thought, or that plants use water more efficiently than we thought.

› Water also passes through soil more rapidly than earlier studies showed, a finding that has implications for water quality.

Research using NASA satellite measurements has given scientists a better understanding of what happens to rain and snow that falls on land -- how much runs off into rivers, lakes and aquifers; how much plants use; and how much simply evaporates. Among the new findings: plants around the world use less water than previous studies had indicated, and most freshwater passes more rapidly through soil than previously thought, with less exposure to the nutrients and contaminants contained there.

Understanding how precipitation, plants, soil, groundwater and other fresh water interact is important for improving large-scale climate models and regional and local hydrology models.

Water that has taken different pathways through the water cycle -- water released by plants during photosynthesis versus water evaporated from a lake, for example -- contains different ratios of hydrogen and the hydrogen isotope deuterium. Researchers from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City; and Oregon State University, Corvallis, analyzed the two forms of hydrogen in atmospheric water vapor as measured from space by the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) on NASA's Aura satellite, and also in global water samples. The researchers accounted for each different isotopic signature in a computer simulation, producing a narrow range of estimates of the amount of water released to the atmosphere by each pathway.

More than a quarter of the rain and snow that falls on continents runs off directly, ending up in the ocean. Of the water that does not run off, two-thirds is eventually released by plants during photosynthesis. The last third evaporates -- mostly from plant leaves, with a few percent evaporating from bare ground or water.

"Some previous estimates suggested that more water was used by plants than we find here," said University of Utah hydrologist Stephen Good, first author of a paper on the research recently published in Science. Good said that means "either plants are less productive globally than we thought, or plants are more efficient at using water than we assumed."

Good noted, "In a variety of models -- from large-scale climate models to regional and local hydrology models -- we try to simulate all these pathways, but we currently have difficulty measuring them individually. Our study presents a new approach for measuring the importance of these pathways and provides a new, improved estimate at the global scale."

For more information on the study, see:

http://unews.utah.edu/news_releases/water-cycle/

To learn more about TES:

http://tes.jpl.nasa.gov/

NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives and safeguard our future. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge and works with institutions around the world to gain new insights into how our planet is changing.

For more information about NASA's Earth science activities, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/earth

News Media Contact

Alan Buis

818-354-0474

alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov

2015-291

Related News

Weather .

A Pioneering NASA Mini Weather Satellite Ends Its Mission

Climate Change .

NASA Satellites Help Quantify Forests’ Impacts on the Global Carbon Budget

Mars .

NASA’s Perseverance Pays Off Back Home

Climate Change .

Warming Seas Are Accelerating Greenland’s Glacier Retreat

Earth .

NASA, US and European Partner Satellite Returns First Sea Level Measurements

Technology .

NASA Confirms New SIMPLEx Mission Small Satellite to Blaze Trails Studying Lunar Surface

Earth .

New Data Confirm 2020 SO to Be the Upper Centaur Rocket Booster From the 1960's

Earth .

Follow Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich in Real Time As It Orbits Earth

Climate Change .

US-European Mission Launches to Monitor the World's Oceans

Climate Change .

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Satellite Prepared for Launch

Explore More

Image .

Pacaya and Fuego Volcanoes, Guatemala

Image .

Mt. Etna--February 26, 2021

Image .

Mt. Etna February 2021

Image .

Tumbiana Stromatolite

Image .

Banjul, The Gambia

Image .

Lake Salda Rocks

Image .

Lake Salda Beach

Image .

Serabit el-Khadim, Egypt

Image .

Glacier Undercutting in Action

Image .

Hulhumale, Maldives

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors of JPL
JPL History
Documentary Series
Virtual Tour
Annual Reports
Missions
All
Current
Past
Future
News
All
Earth
Mars
Solar System
Universe
Technology
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Infographics
Visions of the Future
Slice of History
Engage
JPL and the Community
Lecture Series
Public Tours
Events
Team Competitions
JPL Speakers Bureau
Topics
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Stars and Galaxies
Exoplanets
Technology
JPL Life
For Media
Contacts and Information
Press Kits
More
Asteroid Watch
Robotics at JPL
Subscribe to Newsletter
Universe Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisitions JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisitions
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Manager: Veronica McGregor
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Randal Jackson, Naomi Hartono