Ariel view of river and mountains.

DRI’s Christine Albano Co-authors Groundbreaking New Research in Groundwater’s Role in Ecosystem Sustainability

A new study published in Nature Water used satellite data spanning 38 years to examine how groundwater-dependent ecosystems (such as wetlands, meadows, and springs) in California respond to fluctuations in groundwater levels. The research can help shed light on how water management practices can best account for ecosystem needs in addition to those of human society.

Map showing OpenET data explorer field view.

A New, Rigorous Assessment of OpenET Accuracy for Supporting Satellite-Based Water Management 

A new study offers a comprehensive multi-model, large-scale accuracy assessment of an operational satellite-based data system to compute evapotranspiration. The researchers found that OpenET data has high accuracy for assessing evapotranspiration in agricultural settings, particularly for annual crops like wheat, corn, soy, and rice.