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The Ganges–Brahmaputra (GB), a major river basin of the Indian Sub-Continent (ISC), is the host of more than 700 millions people.

In addition to monsoons and strong climate variability, GB is facing growing demands for freshwater availability by a continually growing population and rapidly developing of agricultural and industrial sectors. The management of water resources is thus of highest priority and, in the context of current over-abstraction of groundwater, accurate estimates of terrestrial freshwater storage are essential. We propose a multi-satellite approach to estimate surface freshwater storage (SWS) and subsurface water storage (SSWS, groundwater + soil moisture) variations over GB.

Basin-scale monthly SWS variations for the period 2003–2007 show a mean annual amplitude of ∼410 km³, contributing to about 45% of the Gravity Recovery And Climate …