%0 Journal article
%A Boergens, Eva
%A Güntner, Andreas
%A Dobslaw, Henryk
%A Dahle, Christoph
%T Quantifying the Central European Droughts in 2018 and 2019 With GRACE Follow-On
%R 10.1029/2020GL087285
%R 10.23689/fidgeo-4893
%J Geophysical Research Letters
%V 47
%N 14

%X 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 1 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.
%U http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?gldocs-11858/9239
%~  FID GEO-LEO e-docs