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Free keywords:
DEAL Wiley. GRACE-FO; GRACE; Drought; Central European drought 2018; Central European drought 2019
Abstract:
The GRACE‐FO satellites launched in May 2018 are able to quantify the water mass deficit in Central Europe during the two consecutive summer droughts of 2018 and 2019. Relative to the long‐term climatology, the water mass deficits were ‐112±10.5 Gt in 2018, and ‐145±12 Gt in 2019. These deficits are 73% and 94% of the mean amplitude of seasonal water storage variations which is so severe that a recovery cannot be expected within one year. The water deficits in 2018 and 2019 are the largest in the whole GRACE and GRACE‐FO time span. Globally, the data do not show an offset between the two missions which proves the successful continuation of GRACE by GRACE‐FO and thus the reliability of the observed extreme events in Central Europe. This allows for a joint assessment of the four Central European droughts in 2003, 2015, 2018, and 2019 in terms of total water storage deficits.
