Observing groundwater depletion in Northern Iraq from space: A comparitive study between catchment hydrology and the GRACE satellite mission

Mass changes derived from GRACE satellite data indicate that there is a large water mass loss in Northern Iraq between 2006 and 2009. In the same period Northern Iraq suffered a severe drought , which is likely to be the main driving factor behind those water mass losses. But where does this mass change exactly come from? Is it groundwater or...