| Summary: | Satellite measurements have been extensively used to assess the magnitude and variability of terrestrial water cycle stores and fluxes. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission provides information on monthly changes in total water storage derived from monthly gravity anomalies. Expanding the application of GRACE data, the objective of this study is to estimate non-winter, monthly river discharge and baseflow using GRACE Total Water Storage Anomalies
(TWSA) in the Mississippi River Basin. Building on existing literature that suggests exponential relationships between river discharge and basin water storage, regression analysis was used develop relationships between U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) discharge (i.e., monthly non-winter flow and approximated baseflow) and effective water storage derived from GRACE TWSA for 16 watersheds distributed throughout the Mississippi River Basin. The resulting exponential coefficients from each
site were then related to GRACE TWSA characteristics providing a model to estimate non-winter monthly average discharge and baseflow for ungauged sites. The resulting discharge estimates were used to investigate how the fraction of baseflow in non-winter average flow varies. The mean fraction of baseflow in non-winter streamflow varied from roughly 40 to 70% with clear differences between watersheds.
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