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GDO Total Water Storage Anomaly (TWSA) (GRACE) (version 2.1.1)

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The Total Water Storage (TWS) Anomaly indicator that is implemented in the Copernicus Global Drought Observatory (GDO) is used for determining the occurrence of long-term hydrological drought conditions, which arise when the TWS reaches values lower than usual. This quantity is often used as a proxy of groundwater drought. The TWS Anomaly indicator in GDO is computed as anomalies of GRACE-derived TWS data with respect to the long-term average 2002-2023 for data from 2002 to 2024 and to the long-term average 2002-2024 for data of year 2025. TWS data are produced by the Center for Space Research (CSR) at the University of Texas at Austin, as scaled by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Contributors

EDO European and Global Drought Observatories

How to cite

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (2026): GDO Total Water Storage Anomaly (TWSA) (GRACE) (version 2.1.1). [Dataset] doi: 10.2905/JRC.NNH1JH0 PID: http://data.europa.eu/89h/0fd62e28-241f-472c-8966-98744920e181

Keywords

CEMSCopernicusEuropean Drought Observatory (EDO)Global Drought Observatory (GDO)GRACEGroundwater

Data access

Data Download Service (NetCDF)
NetCDF

NetCDF is a set of software libraries and self-describing, machine-independent data formats that support the creation, access and sharing of array-oriented scientific data.
Downloadable file

A downloadable file for the dataset.

Use conditions
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

CC BY 4.0 lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the author’s work, even commercially, as long as they credit the author for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licences offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licenced materials.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

Data Download Service (GeoTIFF)
TIFF

TIFF – Tagged Image File Format – is a computer file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word processing, optical character recognition, image manipulation, desktop publishing and page-layout applications. The format was created by Aldus Corporation for use in desktop publishing.
Downloadable file

A downloadable file for the dataset.

Use conditions
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

CC BY 4.0 lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the author’s work, even commercially, as long as they credit the author for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licences offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licenced materials.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

Data Download URL
NetCDF

NetCDF is a set of software libraries and self-describing, machine-independent data formats that support the creation, access and sharing of array-oriented scientific data.
Downloadable file

A downloadable file for the dataset.

Use conditions
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

CC BY 4.0 lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the author’s work, even commercially, as long as they credit the author for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licences offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licenced materials.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

Other resources

GRACE Total Water Storage (TWS) Anomaly Factsheet
PDF

PDF – Portable Document Format – is a file format developed to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware and operating systems. Based on the PostScript language, each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, vector graphics, raster images and other information needed to display it. PDF was standardized as an open format and does not require any royalties for its implementation.

Use conditions
European Commission reuse notice

According to the European Commission reuse notice, reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by the Decision of 12 December 2011. The general principle of reuse can be subject to conditions which may be specified in individual copyright notices. Therefore users are advised to refer to the copyright notices of the individual websites maintained under Europa and of the individual documents. Reuse is not applicable to documents subject to intellectual property rights of third parties.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

  • This Factsheet provides a detailed technical description of the indicator Total Water Storage (TWS) Anomaly, which is implemented in the Copernicus Global Drought Observatory (GDO), and used for detecting and monitoring long-term hydrological drought conditions

Publications

Publication
Analysing the Relationship between Multiple-Timescale SPI and GRACE Terrestrial Water Storage in the Framework of Drought Monitoring
Cammalleri, C., Barbosa, P., Vogt, J.V., 2019. Analysing the Relationship between Multiple-Timescale SPI and GRACE Terrestrial Water Storage in the Framework of Drought Monitoring. Water 11(8), 1672, https://doi.org/10.3390/w11081672.

Spatial coverage

Temporal coverage

From date To date
2012-04-01 N/A

Additional information

Published by
European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Contact email
JRC-EMS-DROUGHT (at) ec.europa.eu
Update frequency
monthly

The event occurs once a month.

Language(s)
English

English is a member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. It is an official language of almost 60 sovereign states and is now a global lingua franca.It is the third-most-common native language in the world and it is widely learned as a second language.

Data theme(s)
Environment

dataset theme covering the domain of environment, defined as the interaction of all living species, climate, weather, and natural resources that impact human survival and economic activity

Geographical name(s)
World
Issued date
2002-04-01
Created date
09 Dec 2020 13:47
Modified date
21 Feb 2025 14:07
Landing page
https://drought.emergency.copernicus.eu/ 
Dataset identifier
http://data.europa.eu/89h/0fd62e28-241f-472c-8966-98744920e181
Other identifiers
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