hide
Free keywords:
-
Abstract:
Water is stored at very different places on Earth as vapor, liquid or in solid state. It is constantly exchanged between the storage compartments in atmosphere, ocean and on the continents. With time-variable gravity fields of the satellite mission GRACE, GFZ
provides unique data sets for continental hydrology and climate research to describe water storage variations at large spatial scales. This allows to quantify the related water fluxes and to make a substantial contribution towards a better understanding of the global climate system and its water cycle including freshwater resources from regional to global scales. In addition, research at GFZ improves prognostic capabilities of hydrological models by integrating GRACE data and adds complementary small-scale data from ground-based gravimetry to study water storage dynamics. Decadal variations and long-term trends, either due to climate variability or anthropogenic impact, can only be adequately resolved, however, by extended gravity time series in the course of a
GRACE Follow-On mission.
