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Map of Groundwater Storage Trends for Earth's 37 Largest Aquifers
GRACE-FO Separating from Rocket After Launch
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Gravity Anomaly Map Using GRACE Data
Gravity anomaly map using GRACE data.
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Flames from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching GRACE-FO into orbit.
Rocket Flames
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
The GRACE-FO satellites, attached to turntable fixtures, at the Astrotech Space Operations processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (view 1).
GRACE-FO Satellites, Attached to Turntable Fixtures
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 2).
GRACE-FO Satellites During Testing (View 2)
An artist's rendering of the twin GRACE-FO spacecraft.
GRACE-FO Rendering
Many of today’s most pressing climate science challenges hinge on knowing how and where water is moving on Earth. GRACE-FO will continue the successful partnership between NASA and the German Resea...
GRACE-FO Launch Press Kit
The rocket carrying GRACE-FO lifts off into a blue sky, with the Pacific Ocean beneath it.
GRACE-FO Launch, Sky and Sea
Variations in water storage in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins from 2003 to 2009, measured by GRACE. Reds represent drier conditions, while blues represent wetter conditions. The majority of ...
Tigris and Euphrates Water Storage, 2003 to 2009
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
Illustration of GRACE-FO separating from Falcon 9 rocket after launch.
GRACE-FO Separating from Rocket After Launch
GRACE-FO in a protective shipping container arriving at a new facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
GRACE-FO Arrives at Vandenberg
Changes in total water storage on Earth in 2007, as measured by GRACE.
Water Storage on Earth in 2007
GRACE Rendering
GRACE 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
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
The GRACE Intermediate Field 48 (GIF48 from UT-CSR) field model is an improved mean gravity field that combines GRACE observations and terrestrial gravity information.
Static Gravity Field Anomalies
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 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
A map of groundwater storage trends for Earth's 37 largest aquifers using GRACE data, showing depletion and replenishment in millimeters of water per year.
Map of Groundwater Storage Trends for Earth's 37 Largest Aquifers
Illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit (view 2).
GRACE-FO in Orbit (View 2)
GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) continues the legacy of GRACE, tracking Earth’s water movement and surface mass changes across the planet. Monitoring changes in ice sheets and glaciers, near-surface and...
GRACE-FO Mission Brochure
Illustration of GRACE-FO above Antarctica.
GRACE-FO Above Antarctica
This map from September 2015 shows deep drought in California, Nevada and Texas.
Groundwater Drought Indicator
The Laser Ranging Interferometer instrument.
Laser Ranging Interferometer
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
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North America was almost entirely above its long-term average in mass in May 2019, due to Midwestern flooding, with the runoff raising the Great Lakes to record levels.
GRACE-FO Shows the Weight of Midwestern Floods
GRACE-FO releases first Level-2 data products, including nine monthly gravity fields and corresponding atmosphere and ocean dealiasing background model data.
GRACE-FO First Gravity Field Data Now Available
GRACE-FO First Science Data Now Available
GRACE-FO First Science Data Now Available
The University of Texas at Austin team that led a twin satellite system launched in 2002 to take detailed measurements of the Earth, called the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), reports in the most recent issue of the journal Nature Climate Change on the contributions that their nearly two decades of data have made to our understanding of global climate patterns.
GRACE Mission Data Contributes to Our Understanding of Climate Change
GRACE Follow-On has resumed collecting data after completing a switchover to a backup system.
GRACE-FO Resumes Data Collection
NASA's GRACE-FO team plans to switch to a backup system in the Microwave Instrument on one of the twin spacecraft this month.
GRACE-FO Satellite Switching to Backup Instrument Processing Unit
