GRACE Tellus Monthly Mass Grids Now Available
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) Tellus Monthly Mass Grids for both land and ocean are now available in Datahub. Each dataset provides monthly mass deviation, expressed as liquid water equivalent thickness, relative to the baseline average from January 2004 to December 2009.
In addition to the GRACE Tellus Monthly Mass Grids, we have also added monthly Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) Land Water Content data. This product contains monthly averaged total water content, expressed as liquid water equivalent thickness, relative to the time-averaged grid from January 2003 to December 2007.
The GRACE mission began in 2002 with the launch of two twin satellites designed to record detailed measurements of Earth’s gravity field. Originally planned as a five-year mission, the two GRACE satellites have completed more than 13 years of continuous measurements.
Data from the GRACE mission has various practical applications. The National Drought Mitigation Center uses GRACE data to generate weekly drought indicators; geophysicists have used GRACE data to analyze how large seismic events have shifted the Earth’s crust; and climate researchers use GRACE data to investigate how changes in land ice mass have contributed to rising sea levels.
For more information on the GRACE mission, its associated data products, and the GRACE-FO follow-on mission scheduled for a 2017 launch, visit grace.jpl.nasa.gov.
Originally published at planetos.com on August 11, 2016.
