3.08 – Time Variable Gravity from Satellites

Satellite measurements of time-variable gravity are a new data type, capable of addressing a wide variety of geophysical problems. This subject, in its present form, began with the 2002 launch of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). GRACE has been providing regular monthly estimates of the Earth’s gravity field down to scales of several hundred kilometers. Any process that involves enough redistribution of mass at those temporal and spatial scales is a possible target for GRACE. There are applications for hydrology, oceanography, the cryosphere, and the solid Earth. This chapter summarizes the observational and theoretical framework used to interpret time-variable satellite gravity measurements, and reviews some of the evolving geophysical applications of this technique.

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