Detection of Continental Hydrology and Glaciology Signals from GRACE: A Review

Since its launch in March 2002, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has provided a global mapping of the time-variations of the Earth’s gravity field. Tiny variations of gravity from monthly to decadal time scales are mainly due to redistributions of water mass inside the surface fluid envelops of our planet (i.e., atmosphere, ocean and water storage on continents). In this article, we present a review of the major contributions of GRACE satellite gravimetry in global and regional hydrology. To date, many studies have focused on the ability of GRACE to detect, for the very first time, the time-variations of continental water storage (including surface waters, soil moisture, groundwater, as well as snow pack at high latitudes) at the unprecedented resolution of ~400–500 km. As no global complete network of surface hydrological observations exists, the advances of satellite gravimetry to monitor terrestrial water storage are significant and unique for determining changes in total water storage and water balance closure at regional and continental scales.     

Retrieval of Large-Scale Hydrological Signals in Africa from GRACE Time-Variable Gravity Fields

Since its launch in April 2002, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission is recording the Earth’s time-variable gravity field with temporal and spatial resolutions of typically 7–30?days and a few hundreds of kilometers, allowing the monitoring of continental water storage variations from both continental and river-basin scales. We investigate here large scale hydrological variations in Africa using different GRACE spherical harmonic solutions, using different processing strategies (constrained and unconstrained solutions). We compare our GRACE estimates to different global hydrology models, with different land-surface schemes and also precipitation forcing. We validate GRACE observations through two different techniques: first by studying desert areas, providing an estimate of the precision. Then we compare GRACE recovered mass variations of main lakes to volume changes derived from radar altimetry measurements. We also study the differences between different publicly available precipitation datasets from both space measurements and ground rain gauges, and their impact on soil-moisture estimates.     

Earth System Mass Transport Mission (e.motion): A Concept for Future Earth Gravity Field Measurements from Space

In the last decade, satellite gravimetry has been revealed as a pioneering technique for mapping mass redistributions within the Earth system. This fact has allowed us to have an improved understanding of the dynamic processes that take place within and between the Earth’s various constituents. Results from the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission have revolutionized Earth system research and have established the necessity for future satellite gravity missions. In 2010, a comprehensive team of European and Canadian scientists and industrial partners proposed the e.motion (Earth system mass transport mission) concept to the European Space Agency. The proposal is based on two tandem satellites in a pendulum orbit configuration at an altitude of about 370 km, carrying a laser interferometer inter-satellite ranging instrument and improved accelerometers. In this paper, we review and discuss a wide range of mass signals related to the global water cycle and to solid Earth deformations that were outlined in the e.motion proposal. The technological and mission challenges that need to be addressed in order to detect these signals are emphasized within the context of the scientific return. This analysis presents a broad perspective on the value and need for future satellite gravimetry missions.     

Outlier identification and correction for GRACE aggregated data

Gravity measurements within the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) provide a direct measure of monthly changes in mass over the Earth’s land masses. As such changes in mass mainly correspond to water storage changes, these measurements allow to close the continental water balance on large spatial scales and on a monthly time scale within the respective error bounds. When quantifying uncertainties, positive and negative peaks are detected in GRACE aggregated monthly time series (from different data providers) that do not correspond to hydrological or hydro-meteorological signals. These peaks must be interpreted as outliers, which carry the danger of signal degradation. In this paper an algorithm is developed to identify outliers and replace them with hydrologically plausible values. The algorithm is based on a statistical approach in which hydrological and hydro-meteorological signals are used to control the algorithm. The procedure of outlier detection is verified by evaluating catchment based aggregated GRACE monthly signals with ground truth from hydrology and hydro-meteorological signals. The results show improvement in the correlation of GRACE versus hydrometeorological and hydrological signals in most catchments. Also, the noise level is significantly reduced over 255 largest catchments.     

What Can be Expected from the GRACE-FO Laser Ranging Interferometer for Earth Science Applications?

The primary objective of the gravity recovery and climate experiment follow-on (GRACE-FO) satellite mission, due for launch in August 2017, is to continue the GRACE time series of global monthly gravity field models. For this, evolved versions of the GRACE microwave instrument, GPS receiver, and accelerometer will be used. A secondary objective is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a laser ranging interferometer (LRI) in improving the satellite-to-satellite tracking measurement performance. In order to investigate the expected enhancement for Earth science applications, we have performed a full-scale simulation over the nominal mission lifetime of 5 years using a realistic orbit scenario and error assumptions both for instrument and background model errors. Unfiltered differences between the synthetic input and the finally recovered time-variable monthly gravity models show notable improvements with the LRI, on a global scale, of the order of 23 %. The gain is realized for wavelengths smaller than 240 km in case of Gaussian filtering but decreases to just a few percent when anisotropic filtering is applied. This is also confirmed for some typical regional Earth science applications which show randomly distributed patterns of small improvements but also degradations when using DDK4-filtered LRI-based models. Analysis of applied error models indicates that accelerometer noise followed by ocean tide and non-tidal mass variation errors are the main contributors to the overall GRACE-FO gravity model error. Improvements in these fields are therefore necessary, besides optimized constellations, to make use of the increased LRI accuracy and to significantly improve gravity field models from next-generation gravity missions.     

Comparison of Daily GRACE Gravity Field and Numerical Water Storage Models for De-aliasing of Satellite Gravimetry Observations

Reducing aliasing effects of insufficiently modelled high-frequent, non-tidal mass variations of the atmosphere, the oceans and the hydrosphere in gravity field models derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission is the topic of this study. The signal content of the daily GRACE gravity field model series (ITG-Kalman) is compared to high-frequency bottom pressure variability and terrestrially stored water variations obtained from recent numerical simulations from an ocean circulation model (OMCT) and two hydrological models (WaterGAP Global Hydrology Model, Land Surface Discharge Model). Our results show that daily estimates of ocean bottom pressure from the most recent OMCT simulations and the daily ITG-Kalman solutions are able to explain up to 40 % of extra-tropical sea-level variability in the Southern Ocean. In contrast to this, the daily ITG-Kalman series and simulated continental total water storage variability largely disagree at periods below 30 days. Therefore, as long as no adequate hydrological model will become available, the daily ITG-Kalman series can be regarded as a good initial proxy for high-frequency mass variations at a global scale. As a second result of this study, based on monthly solutions as well as daily observation residuals, it is shown that applying this GRACE-derived de-aliasing model supports the determination of the time-variable gravity field from GRACE data and the subsequent geophysical interpretation. This leads us to the recommendation that future satellite concepts for determining mass variations in the Earth system should be capable of observing higher frequeny signals with sufficient spatial resolution.     

On the analysis of temporal geoid height variations obtained from GRACE-based GGMs over the area of Poland

Temporal mass variations in the Earth system, which can be detected from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission data, cause temporal variations of geoid heights. The main objective of this contribution is to analyze temporal variations of geoid heights over the area of Poland using global geopotential models (GGMs) developed on the basis of GRACE mission data. Time series of geoid height variations were calculated for the chosen subareas of the aforementioned area using those GGMs. Thereafter, these variations were analyzed using two different methods. On the basis of the analysis results, models of temporal geoid height variations were developed and discussed. The possibility of prediction of geoid height variations using GRACE mission data over the area of Poland was also investigated. The main findings reveal that the geoid height over the area of Poland vary within 1.1 cm which should be considered when defining the geoid model of 1 cm accuracy for this area.     

利用GRACE时变重力场探测2010年中国西南干旱陆地水储量变化

GRACE(Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment)卫星计划为监测陆地水储量变化提供了有效技术手段.本文采用2003至2010年共计8年的GRACE月重力场模型反演中国西南区域陆地水储量变化,与GLDAS(Global Land Data Assimilation System)全球水文模型进行对比分析,其结果在时空分布上均符合较好,同时在2009年秋至2010年春该区域陆地水储量均呈现明显减少,与该时段云贵川三省的干旱事件相一致;比较分析了2009年秋至2010年春GRACE反演陆地水储量变化与TRMM(Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission)合成数据计算的月降雨量的时空分布,两组结果均与西南干旱事件对应时段与区域十分吻合;对近8年的陆地水储量变化与月降雨量数据进行相关性分析,其结果表明陆地水储量变化与降雨量强相关,即降雨量是导致陆地水储量变化的主要因素;分析该区域地表温度变化,结果显示2009年9月至2010年3月地表温度均比历史同期高,地表温度的升高加剧了陆地水储量的减少.     

Seismologic applications of GRACE time-variable gravity measurements

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has been measuring temporal and spatial variations of mass redistribution within the Earth system since 2002. As large earthquakes cause significant mass changes on and under the Earth’s surface, GRACE provides a new means from space to observe mass redistribution due to earthquake deformations. GRACE serves as a good complement to other earthquake measurements because of its extensive spatial coverage and being free from terrestrial restriction. During its over 10 years mission, GRACE has successfully detected seismic gravitational changes of several giant earthquakes, which include the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, 2010 Maule (Chile) earthquake, and 2011 Tohoku-Oki (Japan) earthquake. In this review, we describe by examples how to process GRACE time-variable gravity data to retrieve seismic signals, and summarize the results of recent studies that apply GRACE observations to detect co- and post-seismic signals and constrain fault slip models and viscous lithospheric structures. We also discuss major problems and give an outlook in this field of GRACE application.     

Significance of secular trends of mass variations determined from GRACE solutions

Since 2002 the Earth’s gravity field is globally observed by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission. The GRACE monthly gravity field solutions, available from several analysis centres, reflect mass variations in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. Due to correlated noise contained in these solutions, it is, however, first necessary to apply an appropriate filtering technique. The resulting, smoothed time series are applied not only to determine variations with different periodic signatures (e.g., seasonal, short and medium-term), but to derive long-periodic mass variations and secular trends as well. As the GRACE monthly solutions always show the integral effect of all mass variations, for separation of single processes, like the GIA (Glacial isostatic adjustment)-related mass increase in Fennoscandia, appropriate reduction models (e.g. from hydrology) are necessary.In this study we show for the example of the Fennoscandian uplift area that GRACE solutions from different analysis centres yield considerably different secular trends. Furthermore, it turns out that the inevitable filtering of the monthly gravity field models affects not only the amplitudes of the signals, but also their spatial resolution and distribution such as the spatial form of the detected signals. It also becomes evident that the determination of trends has to be performed together with the determination of periodic components. All periodic terms which are really contained in the data, and only such, have to be included. The restricted time span of the available GRACE measurements, however, limits the separation of long-periodic and secular signals. It is shown that varying the analysis time span affects the results considerably. Finally, a reduction of hydrological signals from the detected integral secular trends using global hydrological models (WGHM, LaDWorld, GLDAS) is attempted. The differences among the trends resulting from different models illustrate that the state-of-the-art hydrology models are not suitable for this purpose as yet. Consequently, taking the GRACE monthly gravity field solutions from one centre, choosing a single filter and applying an insufficiently reliable reduction model leads sometimes to a misinterpretation of considered geophysical processes. Therefore, one has to be cautious with the final interpretation of the results.     

利用SWARM卫星高低跟踪探测格陵兰岛时变重力信号

GRACE重力卫星任务即将结束,后续GRACE Follow-On卫星计划于2017年发射,在此期间,迫切需要一个新的卫星计划继续对全球时变重力场进行连续监测,以保证时变重力场信息时间序列的连贯性.SWARM计划包括三颗轨道高为300~500 km的近极轨卫星星座,类似于三颗CHAMP卫星,具有接替时变重力场探测的潜力.本文首先分析SWARM(模拟)、CHAMP、GRACE反演至60阶时变重力场球谐系数的误差特性及不同高斯平滑半径对高频误差的抑制效果,然后分别利用SWARM、CHAMP、GRACE的时变重力场模型恢复全球质量变化,结果表明,SWARM模拟观测数据的高频误差低于CHAMP观测数据,探测时变重力场的整体精度优于CHAMP,略低于GRACE探测精度;其次,对比2003年1月—2009年12月期间CHAMP(hl-SST)和GRACE(ll-SST)时变重力场模型反演格陵兰岛冰盖质量变化趋势,结果显示,CHAMP数据得到格陵兰岛冰盖质量变化趋势为-50.2±2.0 Gt/a,GRACE所得结果为-41.2±1.6 Gt/a,两者相差21.8%;最后,对比2000年1月—2004年12月间SWARM模拟数据和"真实"模型数据反演的格陵兰岛冰盖质量变化趋势,结果表明,两者相差19.2%.本文研究表明,利用SWARM hl-SST数据探测时变重力场可以达到20%相对精度水平,有潜力用于填补GRACE和GRACE Follow-On期间探测地球时变重力场的空白.     

Glacial isostatic adjustment in Fennoscandia from GRACE data and comparison with geodynamical models

The Earth’s gravity field observed by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission shows variations due to the integral effect of mass variations in the atmosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. Several institutions, such as the GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam, the University of Texas at Austin, Center for Space Research (CSR) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, provide GRACE monthly solutions, which differ slightly due to the application of different reduction models and centre-specific processing schemes. The GRACE data are used to investigate the mass variations in Fennoscandia, an area which is strongly influenced by glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). Hence the focus is set on the computation of secular trends. Different filters (e.g. isotropic and non-isotropic filters) are discussed for the removal of high frequency noise to permit the extraction of the GIA signal. The resulting GRACE based mass variations are compared to global hydrology models (WGHM, LaDWorld) in order to (a) separate possible hydrological signals and (b) validate the hydrology models with regard to long period and secular components. In addition, a pattern matching algorithm is applied to localise the uplift centre, and finally the GRACE signal is compared with the results from a geodynamical modelling. The GRACE data clearly show temporal gravity variations in Fennoscandia. The secular variations are in good agreement with former studies and other independent data. The uplift centre is located over the Bothnian Bay, and the whole uplift area comprises the Scandinavian Peninsula and Finland. The secular variations derived from the GFZ, CSR and JPL monthly solutions differ up to 20%, which is not statistically significant, and the largest signal of about 1.2 Gal/year is obtained from the GFZ solution. Besides the GIA signal, two peaks with positive trend values of about 0.8 Gal/year exist in central eastern Europe, which are not GIA-induced, and also not explainable by the hydrology models. This may indicate that the recent global hydrology models have to be revised with respect to long period and secular components. Finally, the GRACE uplift signal is also in quite good agreement with the results from a simple geodynamical modelling.     

Comparison of the geophysical excitations of polar motion from the period: 1980.0–2009.0

In this study we compared contributions to polar motion excitation determined separately from each of three kinds of geophysical data: atmospheric pressure, equivalent water height estimated from hydrological models, and harmonic coefficients of the Earth gravity field obtained from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Hydrological excitation function (Hydrological Angular Momentum — HAM) has been estimated from models of global hydrology, based on the observed distribution of surfacewater, snow, ice, and soil moisture. In our considerationwe used several global models of land hydrosphere and models ofAtmospheric Angular Momentum (AAM) and Oceanic Angular Momentum (OAM). All of themwere compared with observed Geodetic Angular Momentum (GAM). The spectra of the following excitation functions of polar motion: GAM, AAM+OAM, AAM+OAM+HAM, GAM-AAM-OAM residual geodetic excitation function, and HAM were computed too. The time variable spectra of geodetic, gravimetric, and the sum of atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrological excitation functions are also presented. Phasor diagrams of the seasonal components of polar motion excitation functions of all HAM excitation functions as well as of two GRACE solutions: Center for Space Research (CSR), Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales/Groupe de Recherche en Geodesie Spatiale (CNES/GRGS) were determined and discussed.     

利用动力学方法解算GRACE时变重力场研究

本文利用动力学方法建立GRACE(Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment)K波段距离变率(KBRR)观测、轨道观测与重力场系数的观测方程,通过GRACE Level 1B观测数据,成功解算出全球月时变重力场模型——IGG时变重力场模型,并将2008—2009年的解算结果与GRACE三大数据处理机构美国德克萨斯大学空间中心CSR(Center for Space Research)、美国宇航局喷气推进实验室JPL(Jet Propulsion Laboratory)和德国地学研究中心GFZ(GeoForschungs Zentrum)发布的最新全球时变重力场模型进行详细对比分析.结果表明:IGG结果在全球质量异常、中国及周边地区质量异常的趋势变化、全球质量异常均方差、2~60每阶位系数差值以及亚马逊流域和撒哈拉沙漠等典型区域平均质量异常等方面与CSR、JPL和GFZ解算的RL05结果较为一致.其中,IGG解算结果在2~20阶与CSR、GFZ和JPL最新解算结果基本一致,20~40阶IGG解算结果与GFZ、JPL单位最新解算结果较为接近,大于40阶IGG结果介于CSR与GFZ、JPL之间;亚马逊流域平均质量异常周年振幅IGG、CSR、GFZ和JPL获取到的结果分别为17.6±1.1cm、18.9±1.2cm、17.8±0.9cm和18.9±1.0cm等效水柱高.利用撒哈拉沙漠地区的平均质量异常做反演精度评定,IGG、CSR、GFZ和JPL的时变重力场获取到的平均质量异常均方差分别为1.1cm、0.9cm、0.8cm和1.2cm,表明IGG解算结果与CSR、GFZ和JPL最新发布的RL05结果在同一精度水平.     

基于GRACE/GRACE-FO和Swarm卫星研究2002-2020年南极和格陵兰岛冰盖质量时空变化

两极冰盖消融及其质量变化作为全球气候变化的重要指标之一,一直是联合国政府间专门气候委员会IPCC(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)报告的重点关注内容.GRACE(Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment,2002年4月-2017年...     

GRACE detection of the medium- to far-field coseismic gravity changes caused by the 2004 MW9.3 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake

Large earthquakes cause observable changes in the Earth's gravity field, which have been detected by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). Since most previous studies focus on the detection of near-field gravity effects, this study provides the results from the medium- to far-field gravity changes caused by the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake that are recorded within GRACE monthly solutions. Utilizing a spherical-earth dislocation model we documented that large-scale signals predominate in the global field of the coseismic gravity changes caused by the earthquake. After removing the near-field effects, the coseismic gravity changes show a negative anomaly feature with an average magnitude of -0.18×10^-8 m·s^-2 in the region ranging ~40° from the epicenter, which is considered as the "medium field" in this study. From the GRACE data released by Center for Space Research from August 2002 to December 2008, we retrieved the large-scale gravity changes smoothed with 3 000 km Gaussian filter. The results show that the coseismic gravity changes detected by GRACE in the medium field have an average of (-0.20€±0.06)×10^-8 m·s^-2, which agrees with the model prediction. The detection confirms that GRACE is sensitive to large-scale medium-field coseismic gravitational effects of mega earthquakes, and also validates the spherical-earth dislocation model in the medium field from the perspective of satellite gravimetry.     

近四年全球海水质量变化及其时空特征分析

本文利用卫星重力、卫星测高和海洋温盐数据反演计算全球海水质量变化,并分析其时空变化特征.卫星重力数据利用2003年1月~2006年12月的GRACE月时变重力场球谐系数,同时考虑替换一阶项和C₂₀项,并进行了相关误差滤波、高斯滤波和陆地水文信号泄漏改正,计算得到海洋等效水高变化;利用相同时间跨度的卫星测高数据和海洋温度、盐度水文观测数据,计算全球海平面变化和比容海平面变化,反演得到海水质量变化.反演的两种海水质量变化的年际变化特征一致性较好.三种数据得到的长期趋势变化,与1993~2003年的结果相比,可以看出,海水质量变化加速,并已成为全球海平面上升的主要因素.     

Improvement of Global Hydrological Models Using GRACE Data

After about 6 years of GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite mission operation, an unprecedented global data set on the spatio-temporal variations of the Earth’s water storage is available. The data allow for a better understanding of the water cycle at the global scale and for large river basins. This review summarizes the experiences that have been made when comparing GRACE data with simulation results of global hydrological models and it points out the prerequisites and perspectives for model improvements by combination with GRACE data. When evaluated qualitatively at the global scale, water storage variations on the continents from GRACE agreed reasonably well with model predictions in terms of their general seasonal dynamics and continental-scale spatial patterns. Differences in amplitudes and phases of water storage dynamics revealed in more detailed analyses were mainly attributed to deficiencies in the meteorological model forcing data, to missing water storage compartments in the model, but also to limitations and errors of the GRACE data. Studies that transformed previously identified model deficiencies into adequate modifications of the model structure or parameters are still rare. Prerequisites for a comprehensive improvement of large-scale hydrological models are in particular the consistency of GRACE observation and model variables in terms of filtering, reliable error estimates, and a full assessment of the water balance. Using improvements in GRACE processing techniques, complementary observation data, multi-model evaluations and advanced methods of multi-objective calibration and data assimilation, considerable progress in large-scale hydrological modelling by integration of GRACE data can be expected.     

Land Water Storage Changes from Ground and Space Geodesy: First Results from the GHYRAF (Gravity and Hydrology in Africa) Experiment

This paper is devoted to the first results from the GHYRAF (Gravity and Hydrology in Africa) experiment conducted since 2008 in West Africa and is aimed at investigating the changes in water storage in different regions sampling a strong rainfall gradient from the Sahara to the monsoon zone. The analysis of GPS vertical displacement in Niamey (Niger) and Djougou (Benin) shows that there is a clear annual signature of the hydrological load in agreement with global hydrology models like GLDAS. The comparison of GRACE solutions in West Africa, and more specifically in the Niger and Lake Chad basins, reveals a good agreement for the large scale annual water storage changes between global hydrology models and space gravity observations. Ground gravity observations done with an FG5 absolute gravimeter also show signals which can be well related to measured changes in soil and ground water. We present the first results for two sites in the Sahelian band (Wankama and Diffa in Niger) and one (Djougou in Benin) in the Sudanian monsoon region related to the recharge–discharge processes due to the monsoonal event in summer 2008 and the following dry season. It is confirmed that ground gravimetry is a useful tool to constrain local water storage changes when associated to hydrological and subsurface geophysical in situ measurements.