Gravity and Mass Change: Applications of Satellite Gravimetry in Earth and Climate Science

Earth’s gravitational field provides crucial insights into the changing nature of our planet. It reflects mass change caused by geophysical processes like continental hydrology, changes in the cryosphere or mass flux in the ocean. Since 2002, the NASA/DLR operated satellite mission Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), and its successor GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) continuously monitor temporal variations of gravitational attraction and have provided an invaluable data record of time-variable gravity and mass change. In this talk we outline how mass change in the Earth system is derived through satellite gravimetry, discuss differences to other remote sensing techniques, and showcase applications of gravity data in Earth and Climate Science.

A talk by Andreas Kvas, Wegener Center for Climate an Global Change

Moderation: Jürgen Fuchsberger