Evapotranspiration (ET) plays an important role in the hydrological cycle of river basins. Studying ET in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) is greatly significant for the scientific management of water resources. Here, we made full use of the advantages of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) gravity satellites for monitoring large-scale hydrological changes to calculate the terrestrial water storage anomaly (TWSA) and terrestrial water flux in the YRB from May 2002 to June 2020. Furthermore, combined with terrestrial water flux, precipitation, and runoff data, ET in the YRB was calculated based on the water budget equation and then compared with other traditional ET products. The mutation of annual mean ET was identified by the Mann–Kendall trend test method, and the seasonal and interannual variations of ET were explored. ET was closely related to precipitation. Annual mean ET exhibited a sudden change in 2011, with an insignificant downward trend from 2003 to 2010, followed by an increasing trend from 2011 to 2019, particularly after 2016. Compared with the traditional ET monitoring methods and products, the ET estimated by GRACE/GRACE-FO observations provides a new way to effectively obtain continuous and reliable ET data in a wide range of river basins.

North China (NC) is experiencing significant groundwater depletion. We used GRACE and GRACE-FO RL06 Level-2 data with Mascon data from April 2002 to July 2022. We fused these two types of data through the generalized three-cornered hat method and further combined them with hydrological models, precipitation, in situ groundwater-level, and groundwater extraction (GWE) data to determine and verify temporal and spatial variations in groundwater storage (GWS) in NC. We quantitatively assessed groundwater sustainability by constructing a groundwater index in NC. We further explored the dynamic cyclic process of groundwater change and quantified the impact of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) on GWS change in NC. The overall GWS shows a decreasing trend. The GRACE/GRACE-FO-derived GWS change results are consistent with those shown by the in situ groundwater-level data from the monitoring well. Groundwater in NC is in various states of unsustainability throughout the period 2002 to 2022. The SNWTP affected the water use structure to some extent in NC. This study elucidates the latest spatial–temporal variations in GWS, especially in the groundwater sustainability assessment and quantitative description of the effects of the SNWTP on changes in GWS in NC. The results may provide a reference for groundwater resource management.

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-on (GRACE-FO) satellites are important for studying regional gravitational field changes caused by strong earthquakes. In this study, we chose Chile, one of Earth’s most active seismic zones to explore the co-seismic and post-seismic gravitational field changes of the 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule earthquake based on longer-term GRACE and the newest GRACE-FO data. We calculated the first-order co-seismic gravity gradient changes (GGCs) and probed the geodynamic characteristics of the earthquake. The earthquake caused significant positive gravity change on the footwall and negative gravity changes on the hanging wall of the seismogenic fault. The time series of gravity changes at typical points all clearly revealed an abrupt change caused by the earthquake. The first-order northern co-seismic GGCs had a strong suppressive effect on the north-south strip error. GRACE-FO results showed that the latest post-seismic gravity changes had obvious inherited development characteristics, and that the west coast of Chile maybe still affected by the post-seismic effect. The cumulative gravity changes simulated based on viscoelastic dislocation model is approximately consistent with the longer-term GRACE and the newest GRACE-FO observations. Our results provide important reference for understanding temporal and spatial gravity variations associated with the co-seismic and post-seismic processes of the 2010 Maule earthquake.