The PO.DAAC is pleased to announce the public release of the updated Tellus JPL/GFZ/CSR GRACE and GRACE-FO Level-3 Monthly Ocean/Land Water-Equivalent-Thickness Surface-Mass Anomaly Release 6.0 (RL06) version 04 (v04) datasets. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission is a joint partnership between NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The GRACE Follow-on (FO) mission is a joint partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). Both missions use twin satellites to accurately map month-to-month variations in the Earth's gravity field and surface mass distribution. GRACE-FO is designed as a successor to the GRACE mission. Detailed information regarding the GRACE and GRACE-FO missions are available from the GRACE and GRACE-FO project websites, and also the PO.DAAC GRACE and GRACE-FO mission webpages.

The RL06 v04 datasets are updated from the current RL06 v03 data, which was released a year ago. The v04 update includes (1) new gridded monthly error estimates, as well as (2) an ellipsoidal correction for the estimated surface mass anomalies (further details are provided in the Tellus Level-3 Handbook). This release includes GRACE/GRACE-FO Monthly 1-deg lat/lon Ocean/Land Water-Equivalent-Thickness Surface-Mass Anomaly datasets from three data centers (JPL, GFZ, and CSR), for a total of 12 datasets with DOIs listed below. Each dataset is provided in netCDF, ASCII, and GeoTIFF formats, shared with a single landing page and storage location. In this release, the Level-3 datasets are produced on a monthly basis from April 2002, and continuously updated to the most recent GRACE-FO data month.

The datasets are described and discoverable via the PO.DAAC dataset information pages. The dataset information pages also provide access to the technical documentation, GRACE-FO Level-3 User Handbook, and guidance on how to cite the data.

DOI:

1. https://doi.org/10.5067/TEOCN-3AJ64
2. https://doi.org/10.5067/TEOCN-3AC64
3. https://doi.org/10.5067/TEOCN-3AG64
4. https://doi.org/10.5067/GFOCN-3AJ64
5. https://doi.org/10.5067/GFOCN-3AC64
6. https://doi.org/10.5067/GFOCN-3AG64
7. https://doi.org/10.5067/TELND-3AJ64
8. https://doi.org/10.5067/TELND-3AC64
9. https://doi.org/10.5067/TELND-3AG64
10. https://doi.org/10.5067/GFLND-3AJ64
11. https://doi.org/10.5067/GFLND-3AC64
12. https://doi.org/10.5067/GFLND-3AG64

References:

Landerer F.W. and S. C. Swenson, (2012). Accuracy of scaled GRACE terrestrial water storage estimates. Water Resources Research, Vol 48, W04531, 11 PP, doi:10.1029/2011WR011453.

Landerer, F. W., Flechtner, F. M., Save, H., Webb, F. H., Bandikova, T., Bertiger, W. I., et al. (2020). Extending the global mass change data record: GRACE Follow-On instrument and science data performance. GRL, 47, e2020GL088306. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088306.

Comments/Questions? Please contact podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov or visit the PO.DAAC Forum.