最近由一對衛星對淡水短缺所進行的太空觀測，在其所提供的新影像中，顯示出地球水資源在全球是如何分配的，以及涵蓋全球最多陸地面積的50幾個河水流域中，河水水位和流域分佈型態如何改變。這種變化反映出河流、湖泊、水庫、冰雪區的氾濫平原、土壤及蓄水層的地下水等各種水量的變化。
「GRACE（重力回復及氣候實驗）讓我們首次見到陸地淡水儲存的分佈，」執教於加州大學爾灣分校的地科教授費明力提（Jay Famiglietti）表示。「經過越長的時間，我們能從自然的季節變化中辨識出水的長期趨勢，並且追蹤水在自然氣候變動及氣候改變之下的可得性為何。」
水利學者分析GRACE的資料，以鑑定降雨量變化、地下水耗竭，以及雪和冰河融化速度的趨勢，並且了解其背後的原因。
非洲河流的流域，如剛果河，尚比西河及尼日河等，過去5年來已呈乾涸現象。同時，在美國的密西西比河及科羅拉多河流域，水量則有增多趨勢。這類資料可作為更多地區水域管理決策的重要資訊。
GRACE也讓科學家第一次評量另一個水循環的關鍵因素——地表河流的水的排放量。水流的測量通常因為經濟、政治及國防等種種原因，而無法由各國共同進行。GRACE所做的地表河流水的排放測量，對監測陸地水的可得性，及了解地表逕流進入海洋造成的海平面上升，是相當重要的。
因此，水利學者現在可以將GRACE 的資訊運用於影響區域水域管理的方法。「GRACE 資訊增加了我們對水循環的了解，以及土壤濕度的模擬狀態、雪和地下水的電腦模組等，」位於馬里蘭州太空總署古達（Goddard）太空飛行中心的水利專家羅岱爾（Matt Rodell）表示。「這是對全世界的天氣、河流、洪水、乾旱、水資源狀況的預測有更好掌控重要的一步。」
Recent space observations of freshwater storage by a pair of satellites are providing a new picture of how Earth's water resources are distributed globally and how water levels and distribution patterns are changing in more than 50 river basins that cover most of Earth's land area. The variations reflect changes in water stored in rivers, lakes, reservoirs; in flood plains as snow and ice; and underground in soils and aquifers.
"GRACE（Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment） is providing a first ever look at the distribution of freshwater storage on the continents," said Jay Famiglietti, professor of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine. "With longer time series, we can distinguish long-term trends from natural seasonal variations and track how water availability responds to natural climate variations and climate change."
Hydrologists are analyzing GRACE data to identify trends in precipitation changes, groundwater depletion and snow and glacier melt rates, and to understand their underlying causes.
African river basins, such as the Congo, Zambezi and Nile, have been drying over the past five years. At the same time in the United States, the Mississippi and Colorado River basins show water storage increases. This type of data can be used to make more informed regional water management decisions.
GRACE also is allowing scientists to estimate another key component of the water cycle for the first time - water discharged by freshwater streams from Earth's continents. Stream flow measurements are often not shared among nations for economic, political or national defense reasons. GRACE measurements of the total water discharged by continental streams are important for monitoring the availability of freshwater and understanding how surface water runoff from continents contributes to rises in global sea level.
As a result, hydrologists can now apply GRACE data in ways that will impact regional water management. "GRACE data improve our understanding of the water cycle and simulations of soil moisture, snow and groundwater in computer models," said Matt Rodell, a hydrologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "This is a key step toward better weather, stream flow, flood, drought and water resource forecasts worldwide."
作者
In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
