Terrestrial water storage variation in Hebei plain area of China, based on ground surface gravimetry

Variation of terrestrial water storage in the Hebei plain area from March 2010 to June 2014 was studied using ground gravimetry combined with vertical displacement data from the Global Navigation Satellite System. Results show that observed gravity variation in this area increased continuously, basically reflecting a trend toward land subsidence. With the effect of this subsidence removed, a dominant-negative change in gravity variation was evident, reflecting an average rate of decrease in terrestrial water in this area of 0.10 ± 0.053 m/y, and this is equivalent to a volume of 81.5 ± 43.2 × 108 m3 and is consistent with the spatial distribution of groundwater change from measured hydrologic data. These results can be an essential reference and supplement for the study of terrestrial water variation in the Hebei plain area, and indicate that ground surface gravimetry can be used as an important mean for studying changes in terrestrial water.