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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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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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GRACE-FO arriving at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, from Germany.
GRACE-FO Arrives at Vandenberg
Gravity variations studied by GRACE can be used to determine ground water storage on land masses.
Global Terrestrial Water Storage Anomaly
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
Illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit (view 5).
GRACE-FO in Orbit (View 5)
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
Illustration of GRACE-FO separating from Falcon 9 rocket after launch.
GRACE-FO Separating from Rocket After Launch
The GRACE-FO satellites were assembled by Airbus Defence and Space in Germany. The photo shows the satellites in the testing facility of IABG, an Airbus subcontractor, in Munich (view 1).
GRACE-FO Satellites During Testing
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
Changes in Australia's mass observed by GRACE in 2010 and 2011. Areas in greens and blues had the greatest increases in mass, caused by unusually high precipitation connected with a large La Niña e...
Changes in Australia's Mass Observed by GRACE in 2010 and 2011
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
An artist's rendering of the twin GRACE-FO spacecraft.
GRACE-FO Rendering
The twin satellites of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on, or GRACE-FO, will track the movement of water around Earth. This short video explains how and why it's important.
Why Is GRACE-FO So Important?
Flames from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching GRACE-FO into orbit.
Rocket Flames
NASA JPL-UC Irvine glaciologist Eric Rignot explains how glaciers in West Antarctica are changing.
West Antarctic Collapse
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
Depletion of groundwater in northwestern India between 2002 and 2008, measured by GRACE.
Groundwater Depletion in India, 2002-2008
Illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit (view 4)
Illustration of GRACE-FO (View 4)
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
A simplified example of how the distance between the GRACE-FO satellites changes as they pass from the Caribbean Sea across Colombia and Peru.
How GRACE-FO Measures Gravity
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
This map from September 2015 shows deep drought in California, Nevada and Texas.
Groundwater Drought Indicator
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
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
Illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit (view 3).
GRACE-FO in Orbit (View 3)
GRACE-FO mission logo
GRACE-FO Logo
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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
