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Gravity Anomaly Map Using GRACE Data
Gravity anomaly map using GRACE data.
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For 15 years, the GRACE mission has unlocked mysteries of how water moves around our planet. It gave us the first view of underground aquifers from space, and shows how fast polar ice sheets and mo...
15 Years of GRACE Earth Observations
GRACE-FO arriving at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, from Germany.
GRACE-FO Arrives at Vandenberg
The rocket carrying GRACE-FO lifts off into a blue sky, with the Pacific Ocean beneath it.
GRACE-FO Launch, Sky and Sea
The two GRACE-FO satellites are seen from GFZ’s Satellite Laser Ranging Station in Potsdam, Germany, on May 23, 2018 at 22:16 UTC and 22:17 UTC, respectively.
GRACE-FO Satellites From Potsdam
Flames from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching GRACE-FO into orbit.
Rocket Flames
GRACE-FO mission logo
GRACE-FO Logo
GRACE-FO will measure Atlantic Ocean bottom pressure as an indicator of deep ocean current speed, as GRACE did.
Ocean Bottom Pressure
Illustration of GRACE-FO above Alaska.
Illustration of GRACE-FO Above Alaska
Illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit (view 5).
GRACE-FO in Orbit (View 5)
GRACE observed Earth’s surface mass changes nearly every month from 2002 to mid-2017. GRACE Follow-On will provide crucial continuity to these observations for the next five years or more.
Earth Mass Changes, 2002 to 2017
This animation shows the annual water storage changes over the U.S. from GRACE from 2003 - 2013.
Annual Water Storage Changes over the U.S. from GRACE
The rainy and dry seasons in the Amazon Basin in 2004, revealed by gravity anomalies observed by GRACE. Reds and pinks show where and when mass was higher than average, a sign that more water was p...
Rainy and Dry Seasons in the Amazon (2004)
GRACE-Follow On (GRACE-FO) is a satellite mission that launched in May 2018. GRACE-FO will continue the work of the GRACE satellite mission tracking Earth's water movement around the globe. These d...
Tracking Water from Space
An artist's rendering of the twin GRACE-FO spacecraft.
GRACE-FO Rendering
The NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft launches from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
GRACE-FO Launches, Wide Shot
NASAs Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) has measured significant groundwater depletion around the world in recent years.
GRACE Sees Groundwater Losses Around the World
The NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft launches onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, May 22, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
GRACE-FO Launches, Ocean View
Visualization of the mass change over Greenland from January 2004 through June 2014.
GRACE Mission Measures Global Ice Mass Changes
The force of gravity not only keeps us from floating away, it also lets NASA study Earth’s water and ice from space. Using a pair of twin satellites named GRACE, we can monitor our planet’s water.
Scale in the Sky
An animation showing “sea level fingerprints,” or patterns of rising and falling sea levels across the globe in response to changes in Earth’s gravitational and rotational fields.
Cumulative Sea Level Change 2002-2015
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen with the NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft onboard at Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
GRACE-FO in Falcon 9 on Launchpad
This image shows the mean annual amplitude of total water storage on Earth in 2007 as measured by GRACE.
Total Water Storage from GRACE, 2007
The Laser Ranging Interferometer instrument.
Laser Ranging Interferometer
The GRACE-FO satellites were assembled by Airbus Defence and Space in Germany. The photo shows one of the satellites in the testing facility of IABG, an Airbus subcontractor, in Munich (view 3).
GRACE-FO Satellites in Testing
GRACE-FO, a collaboration between NASA and German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on on May 22, 2018.
GRACE-FO Launches
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