Wide-swath Altimetry Maps Bank Shapes and Storage Changes in Global Rivers

Wide-swath Altimetry Maps Bank Shapes and Storage Changes in Global Rivers | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Wide-swath Altimetry Maps Bank Shapes and Storage Changes in Global Rivers Arnaud Cerbelaud, Jeffrey Wade, Cedric David, Michael Durand, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7313393/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 04 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Rivers are Earth's most renewable and accessible freshwater resource [1], yet global estimates of the magnitude and variability in river water storage have remained few and inconsistent [1–9]. Previous estimates of variability have relied either on sparse and asynchronous remote sensing observations [10] or on hydrological models constrained by incomplete understanding of surface water balance and poorly known river channel characteristics [2,3]. The insufficient knowledge of temporal variations in river water storage across space hinders effective management of this critical freshwater resource [11,12]. Here we present the first global observations of active river channel geometry and associated monthly changes in water storage at the reach scale derived from the first water year (October 2023 to September 2024) of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission at 126,674 reaches worldwide. Clear patterns of riverbed shape and storage variability expectedly emerge across major basins. SWOT reveals a range of 313.4 km³ in global annual river storage variability, approximately 28% lower than the lowest previously modeled estimates for the same wide reaches. While the Amazon’s 2024 record drought likely contributed to the discrepancy, the new observations point to distinct knowledge limitations in surface water science. These findings highlight key opportunities to improve the fundamental representation of surface water dynamics in global models and to better inform water resource management and disaster mitigation at scale. Earth and environmental sciences/Hydrology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Hydrology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 04 Mar, 2026 Read the published version in Nature → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7313393","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":500186655,"identity":"d21633dd-8c12-47da-9862-80ff0723b94e","order_by":0,"name":"Arnaud Cerbelaud","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Arnaud","middleName":"","lastName":"Cerbelaud","suffix":""},{"id":500186656,"identity":"88592ebb-3659-4824-af5b-fe40f1214e79","order_by":1,"name":"Jeffrey Wade","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jeffrey","middleName":"","lastName":"Wade","suffix":""},{"id":500186657,"identity":"25f27c63-c70c-4341-85a7-faf71e4bb345","order_by":2,"name":"Cedric David","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0924-5907","institution":"Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Cedric","middleName":"","lastName":"David","suffix":""},{"id":500186658,"identity":"5299a92b-d730-49b3-88ee-3f5870d3de47","order_by":3,"name":"Michael Durand","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The Ohio State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michael","middleName":"","lastName":"Durand","suffix":""},{"id":500186659,"identity":"e03217d1-c6aa-4010-9a4a-fa53a9556991","order_by":4,"name":"Renato Prata de Moraes Frasson","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4299-1730","institution":"Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Renato","middleName":"Prata de Moraes","lastName":"Frasson","suffix":""},{"id":500186660,"identity":"9bd9b0d3-9f05-46eb-8e98-539f4333931e","order_by":5,"name":"Tamlin Pavelsky","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tamlin","middleName":"","lastName":"Pavelsky","suffix":""},{"id":500186661,"identity":"c97d7e38-5039-43cb-bc88-2ac053883d08","order_by":6,"name":"Hind Oubanas","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hind","middleName":"","lastName":"Oubanas","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-06 23:55:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7313393/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7313393/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10218-y","type":"published","date":"2026-03-04T05:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103973899,"identity":"9adde4c5-7e05-4338-8a3e-1c6cb9e9f30b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-05 08:12:56","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2782220,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SWOTvolumeWadeetalvsubmit.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7313393/v1_covered_64725375-994f-4725-afb5-47c83b70e3a7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Wide-swath Altimetry Maps Bank Shapes and Storage Changes in Global Rivers","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7313393/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7313393/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Rivers are Earth's most renewable and accessible freshwater resource [1], yet global estimates of the magnitude and variability in river water storage have remained few and inconsistent [1–9]. Previous estimates of variability have relied either on sparse and asynchronous remote sensing observations [10] or on hydrological models constrained by incomplete understanding of surface water balance and poorly known river channel characteristics [2,3]. The insufficient knowledge of temporal variations in river water storage across space hinders effective management of this critical freshwater resource [11,12]. Here we present the first global observations of active river channel geometry and associated monthly changes in water storage at the reach scale derived from the first water year (October 2023 to September 2024) of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission at 126,674 reaches worldwide. Clear patterns of riverbed shape and storage variability expectedly emerge across major basins. SWOT reveals a range of 313.4 km³ in global annual river storage variability, approximately 28% lower than the lowest previously modeled estimates for the same wide reaches. While the Amazon’s 2024 record drought likely contributed to the discrepancy, the new observations point to distinct knowledge limitations in surface water science. These findings highlight key opportunities to improve the fundamental representation of surface water dynamics in global models and to better inform water resource management and disaster mitigation at scale.","manuscriptTitle":"Wide-swath Altimetry Maps Bank Shapes and Storage Changes in Global Rivers","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-18 02:19:25","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7313393/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":false,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"nature","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature](http://www.nature.com/nature/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"558d6f80-8c3b-4e1c-b900-ca9d142185f7","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 18th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":53135371,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Hydrology"},{"id":53135372,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact"},{"id":53135373,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Climate sciences/Hydrology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-05T08:12:37+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7313393","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10218-y","journal":{"identity":"nature","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Nature"},"publishedOn":"2026-03-04 05:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 4th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-18 02:19:25","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41586-026-10218-y","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10218-y","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7313393","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7313393","identity":"rs-7313393","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}