Time-variable gravity signal in Greenland revealed by high-low satellite-to-satellite tracking

authored by: M. Weigelt, T. Van Dam, A. Jäggi, L. Prange, M. J. Tourian, W. Keller, N. Sneeuw
Abstract: In the event of a termination of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission before the launch of GRACE Follow-On (due for launch in 2017), high-low satellite-to-satellite tracking (hl-SST) will be the only dedicated observing system with global coverage available to measure the time-variable gravity field (TVG) on a monthly or even shorter time scale. Until recently, hl-SST TVG observations were of poor quality and hardly improved the performance of Satellite Laser Ranging observations. To date, they have been of only very limited usefulness to geophysical or environmental investigations. In this paper, we apply a thorough reprocessing strategy and a dedicated Kalman filter to Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) data to demonstrate that it is possible to derive the very long-wavelength TVG features down to spatial scales of approximately 2000 km at the annual frequency and for multi-year trends. The results are validated against GRACE data and surface height changes from long-term GPS ground stations in Greenland. We find that the quality of the CHAMP solutions is sufficient to derive long-term trends and annual amplitudes of mass change over Greenland. We conclude that hl-SST is a viable source of information for TVG and can serve to some extent to bridge a possible gap between the end-of-life of GRACE and the availability of GRACE Follow-On. Key Points We derive time variable gravity field features from hl-SST CHAMP gives the quality to derive trends and annual amplitudes over Greenland The time series derived from CHAMP has excellent agreement with GRACE and GPS
Organisation(s): Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodetic Science
External Organisation(s): University of Luxembourg
University of Bern
University of Stuttgart
Type: Article
Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
Volume: 118
Pages: 3848-3859
No. of pages: 12
ISSN: 2169-9313
Publication date: 01.07.2013
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Geophysics, Geochemistry and Petrology, Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous), Space and Planetary Science
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrb.50283 (Access: Unknown)
: Details in the research portal "Research@Leibniz University"

BibTeX

@article{f45514655ab94837a6933d520e0a5a88,
title = "Time-variable gravity signal in Greenland revealed by high-low satellite-to-satellite tracking",
abstract = "In the event of a termination of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission before the launch of GRACE Follow-On (due for launch in 2017), high-low satellite-to-satellite tracking (hl-SST) will be the only dedicated observing system with global coverage available to measure the time-variable gravity field (TVG) on a monthly or even shorter time scale. Until recently, hl-SST TVG observations were of poor quality and hardly improved the performance of Satellite Laser Ranging observations. To date, they have been of only very limited usefulness to geophysical or environmental investigations. In this paper, we apply a thorough reprocessing strategy and a dedicated Kalman filter to Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) data to demonstrate that it is possible to derive the very long-wavelength TVG features down to spatial scales of approximately 2000 km at the annual frequency and for multi-year trends. The results are validated against GRACE data and surface height changes from long-term GPS ground stations in Greenland. We find that the quality of the CHAMP solutions is sufficient to derive long-term trends and annual amplitudes of mass change over Greenland. We conclude that hl-SST is a viable source of information for TVG and can serve to some extent to bridge a possible gap between the end-of-life of GRACE and the availability of GRACE Follow-On. Key Points We derive time variable gravity field features from hl-SST CHAMP gives the quality to derive trends and annual amplitudes over Greenland The time series derived from CHAMP has excellent agreement with GRACE and GPS",
keywords = "CHAMP, Greenland, hl-SST, time-variable gravity",
author = "M. Weigelt and {Van Dam}, T. and A. J{\"a}ggi and L. Prange and Tourian, {M. J.} and W. Keller and N. Sneeuw",
year = "2013",
month = jul,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1002/jgrb.50283",
language = "English",
volume = "118",
pages = "3848--3859",
journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth",
issn = "2169-9313",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "7",
}