Since 2018, the GRACE Follow-On satellite mission, a partnership between NASA (US) and GFZ (Germany), is continuing the unique essential climate data record of mass change in the Earth system initiated in 2002 by the GRACE mission (2002-2017). The combined GRACE & GRACE-FO data records now span over 22 years and provide foundational observations of monthly to decadal global mass changes and transports in the Earth system derived from temporal variations in the Earth’s gravity field. These observations have become indispensable for climate-related studies that enable process understanding of the evolving global water cycle, including ocean dynamics, polar ice mass changes, and near-surface and global ground water changes.We will present recent GRACE/GRACE-FO science and applications highlights, status of the data processing, calibration approaches, performance of last year’s science data, and discuss the GRACE-FO mission operations plan to collect and provide high-quality science data, aiming for overlap with the upcoming NASA/DLR GRACE-Continuity mission, targeted to launch in late 2028.
F. Landerer, A. Eicker, H. Save et al.· GRACE/GRACE-FO Science Team...· 0 citations
Existing satellite systems primarily observe individual components of the terrestrial water cycle, whereas drought is fundamentally an emergent, temporary process resulting from interactions among all terrestrial water storage compartments and human water use (AghaKouchak et al., 2015; AghaKouchak et al., 2021). Given the complex nature of monitoring drought across several temporal and spatial domains, remote sensing tools enable us to augment our limited in situ networks while also helping us to better detect rapid onset/intensification of drought. This technology frontier is ripe for flash drought detection and mapping (Otkin et al., 2018; Christian et al., 2024). These tools can also help us better support agricultural, environmental and water resource management and decision making. As such, to better understand and advance drought monitoring and mitigation, we recommend prioritizing measurements focused on multi-domain compartment water storage, subsurface moisture, human water use quantification and coupled water-energy budgets. This white paper is an outcome of a community-led, community-engaged effort to identify and elevate emerging opportunities in hydrologic science that can provide significant benefits for decision-making related to drought, floods, water quality, water supply and water demand.
J. Vano, E. Jack-Scott, Sujay V. Kumar et al.· 1 citation
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