NASA GSFC GRACE Mascon Ocean, Ice, and Hydrology Equivalent Water Height Version 2.4

doi:10.3189/2013JoG12J147

GSFC_Mascon_v2.4

The NASA GSFC global mascon product contains monthly estimates of time-variable gravity in units of cm equivalent water height for a global set of 41,168 1x1 arc-degree equal-area mass concentration blocks (mascons). The mascons are directly determined from the GRACE Level-1B measurements, which include the inter-satellite K-band range-rate, GPS-determined orbits, attitude quaternions, and accelerometer measurements. The primary benefit of the mascon technique is the ability to apply a priori information through the application of spatial constraints in the least-squares adjustment procedure, significantly improving the solution signal-to-noise ratio and reducing signal leakage across constraint region boundaries. Our signal covariance matrix applies the following constraint regions: 1.) GIS elevation below 2000m; 2.) GIS elevation above 2000m; 3.) Antarctic ice sheet and Ronne and Ross ice shelves; 4.) Gulf of Alaska; 5.) Land including glaciers; 6.) Ocean including other ice shelves and large seas. Filtering should not be applied to the mascon solutions.

2.4

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L3

January 1, 2003 to July 31, 2016

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GRACE

GRACE/GRACE-FO Science Team and NASA MEaSUREs Program