Inferring reservoir filling strategies under limited-data-availability conditions using hydrological modeling and Earth observations:  the case of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

Ali, Awad M.; Melsen, Lieke A.; Teuling, Adriaan J.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4057-2023

Articles | Volume 27, issue 21

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4057-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Representation of water infrastructures in large-scale hydrological...

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4057-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 27, issue 21

Research article

|

13 Nov 2023

Research article |

| 13 Nov 2023

Inferring reservoir filling strategies under limited-data-availability conditions using hydrological modeling and Earth observations: the case of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

Awad M. Ali, Lieke A. Melsen, and Adriaan J. Teuling

Data sets

Data underlying the paper "Inferring reservoir filling strategies under limited data availability using hydrological modelling and Earth observation: the case of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)'' A. M. Ali https://doi.org/10.4211/hs.15d3cf37ad934fe7a1e52f5fb5a56145

Landsat Collection-1 Level-2 USGS - United States Geological Survey https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/

The NOAA African Rainfall Climatology (ARC) Version 2 dataset (ARC2) NOAA-CPC http://ftp.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/fews/fewsdata/africa/arc2/geotiff/

Index of /climate_environment/GPCC/full_data_daily_v2020/ DWD - the German Meteorological Service https://opendata.dwd.de/climate_environment/GPCC/full_data_daily_v2020/

Short summary

Using a new approach based on a combination of modeling and Earth observation, useful information about the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam can be obtained with limited data and proper rainfall selection. While the monthly streamflow into Sudan has decreased significantly (1.2 × 10⁹–5 × 10⁹ m³) with respect to the non-dam scenario, the negative impact has been masked due to higher-than-average rainfall. We reveal that the dam will need 3–5 more years to complete filling.