The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its successor mission GRACE-FO have collected nearly two decades of global mass change and gravity field observations. These measurements serve as fundamental climate data records for Earth’s hydrosphere, constraints on solid Earth processes, and are increasingly being used for applications (e.g., groundwater monitoring). Complementary to these gravity missions are other observations (Swarm, SLR), which are of significant importance to bridge gaps in the GRACE(-FO) records or to improve GRACE(-FO) gravity fields. The important role of satellite gravimetry in monitoring Earth’s hydrosphere from space has led to various ongoing initiatives preparing for future gravity missions, including simulation studies, the definition of user and mission requirements and the investigation of potential measurement systems and orbit scenarios.

Session topics: science results, applications and data processing strategies for satellite gravimetry missions; future concepts for measuring Earth system mass transport; complementary data types for validation and/or combinations.

• EGU: European Geosciences Union -