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Measuring Earth's Surface Mass and Water Changes

NASA Satellites Reveal Abrupt Drop in Global Freshwater Levels

NASA Satellites Reveal Abrupt Drop in Global Freshwater Levels

An international team of scientists using observations from NASA-German satellites found evidence that Earth’s total amount of freshwater dropped abruptly starting in May 2014 and has remained low ever since.
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US, Germany Partnering on Mission to Track Earth's Water Movement

US, Germany Partnering on Mission to Track Earth's Water Movement

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-Continuity mission will extend a decades-long record of following shifting water masses using gravity measurements.
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Google's ‘A Passage of Water' Brings NASA's Water Data to Life

Google's ‘A Passage of Water' Brings NASA's Water Data to Life

This immersive experience leverages satellite data to illustrate how climate change is impacting Earth’s water cycle.
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NASA Measures Underground Water Flowing From Sierra to Central Valley

NASA Measures Underground Water Flowing From Sierra to Central Valley

In a recent study, scientists found that a previously unmeasured source – water percolating through soil and fractured rock below California’s Sierra Nevada mountains – delivers an average of 4 million acre feet (5 cubic kilometers) of water to the state’s Central Valley each year.
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NASA Finds New Way to Monitor Underground Water Loss

NASA Finds New Way to Monitor Underground Water Loss

Researchers have untangled puzzling patterns of sinking and rising land to pin down the underground locations where water is being pumped for irrigation.
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Updates

  • March 10, 2025

    Mark your calendars: 2025 GFO-STM in Boulder, CO (USA)!

    The 2025 GRACE-FO Science Team Meeting will take place from Oct 7-9, 2025, in Boulder, CO (USA), at the Village Center! This meeting will be held in hybrid mode. More info coming soon! more

    The 2025 GRACE-FO Science Team Meeting will take place from Oct 7-9, 2025, in Boulder, CO (USA), at the Village Center! This meeting will be held in hybrid mode. More info coming soon!

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  • November 7, 2024

    GRACE-FO: new data release RL06.3 now available

    The updated RL06.3 Level-2 gravity fields improve the low-degree harmonics time series, and the corresponding Level-3 mass change fields. The GRACE-FO Science Data System team at JPL, GFZ and CS... more

    The updated RL06.3 Level-2 gravity fields improve the low-degree harmonics time series, and the corresponding Level-3 mass change fields.

    The GRACE-FO Science Data System team at JPL, GFZ and CSR has reprocessed the Level-1 ACC data and released a new Level-1B ACX2 data product. ACX2 is an imporved hybrid ACC-transplant that uses observations from both the GF1 and GF2 accelerometers. With this, we can better account for differential non-gravitational forces between GF1 and GF2 – which in turn results in the improved monthly gravity fields.

    The ACX2-L1B product requires significantly more validation and verification during its production. These data will be delivered in a delayed mode, together with the corresponding monthly L2/L3 data deliveries (current latency: ~40-60 days).

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  • November 7, 2024

    2024 GRACE-FO Science Team Meeting: That's a wrap!

    The 2024 GRACE-FO Science Team Meeting took place Oct 8-10, 2024 at GFZ (Potsdam, Germany). The international GRACE-FO Science Team discussed the status of the mission, novel science and applica... more

    The 2024 GRACE-FO Science Team Meeting took place Oct 8-10, 2024 at GFZ (Potsdam, Germany).

    The international GRACE-FO Science Team discussed the status of the mission, novel science and applications results and plans for the extended mission period. Over 100 participants joined in person, 40 participants online (many early-career scientists!)

    Overall, >65 papers were presented and discussed, and can be accessed through the meeting website.

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Top Data Sets

  • JPL Global Land / Ocean Mascons

    JPL Global Land / Ocean Mascons

    JPL's global mascons (land water storage & ocean bottom pressure) from GRACE & GRACE-FO are updated monthly, and are provided on a 0.5-degree lat/lon global grid.

  • GRACE Tellus LAND Grids

    GRACE Tellus LAND Grids

    Land water storage from GRACE is updated monthly, and is provided on 1-degree global grids.
  • Interactive Data Browsers

    Interactive Data Browsers

    The data browser allows the interactive retrieval of GRACE/GRACE-FO Land & Ocean data: evaluate time series over large river basins, compute long-term trends and mean seasonal amplitudes!

Applications

Hydrology

Groundwater is a useful indicator of climate variability and human impacts on the environment.

Land Ice

GRACE resolves the mass balance of grounded ice sheets, glaciers and ice caps.

Solid Earth

GRACE yields insights into Solid Earth changes from earthquakes glacial isostatic adjustment.

Ocean

GRACE measures sea level rise from melting ice, changes in deep ocean currents.

GRACE Follow-On

GRACE-FO over Earth

Launching in 2017, GRACE Follow-on (GRACE-FO) will continue GRACE's legacy of tracking Earth's water movement to monitor changes in underground water storage, the amount of water stored in large lakes and rivers, soil moisture, ice sheets and glaciers, and sea level caused by the addition of water to the ocean. These discoveries provide a unique view of Earth's climate and have far-reaching benefits to society and the world's population.

Featured Resources

  • screenshot of the GRACE data analysis tool

    Data Analysis Tool

    The NASA GRACE Data Analysis Tool (DAT) allows for quick-look comparisons and analyses of NASA GRACE datasets.

  • image of the GRACE satellite

    Multimedia

    Browse GRACE images, video and more.