An optimized short-arc approach: methodology and application to develop refined time series of Tongji-Grace2018 GRACE monthly solutions

in Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth (2019), 124(6), 6010-6038

Abstract Considering the unstable inversion of ill-conditioned intermediate matrix required in each integral arc in the short-arc approach presented in Chen et al. (2015), an optimized short-arc method ... [more ▼]

Abstract Considering the unstable inversion of ill-conditioned intermediate matrix required in each integral arc in the short-arc approach presented in Chen et al. (2015), an optimized short-arc method via stabilizing the inversion is proposed. To account for frequency-dependent noise in observations, a noise whitening technique is implemented in the optimized short-arc approach. Our study shows the optimized short-arc method is able to stabilize the inversion and eventually prolong the arc length to 6 hours. In addition, the noise whitening method is able to mitigate the impacts of low-frequency noise in observations. Using the optimized short-arc approach, a refined time series of GRACE monthly models called Tongji-Grace2018 has been developed. The analyses allow us to derive the following conclusions: (a) during the analyses over the river basins (i.e. Amazon, Mississippi, Irrawaddy and Taz) and Greenland, the correlation coefficients of mass changes between Tongji-Grace2018 and others (i.e. CSR RL06, GFZ RL06 and JPL RL06 Mascon) are all over 92 and the corresponding amplitudes are comparable; (b) the signals of Tongji-Grace2018 agree well with those of CSR RL06, GFZ RL06, ITSG-Grace2018 and JPL RL06 Mascon, while Tongji-Grace2018 and ITSG-Grace2018 are less noisy than CSR RL06 and GFZ RL06; (c) clearer global mass change trend and less striping noise over oceans can be observed in Tongji-Grace2018 even only using decorrelation filtering; and (d) for the tests over Sahara, over 36 and 19 of noise reductions are achieved by Tongji-Grace2018 relative to CSR RL06 in the cases of using decorrelation filtering and combined filtering, respectively. [less ▲]

Tongji-Grace02s and Tongji-Grace02k: high-precision static GRACE-only global Earth's gravity field models derived by refined data processing strategies

in Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth (2018), 123

Abstract In order to derive high-precision static GRACE-only gravity field solutions, the following strategies were implemented in this study: (1) a refined accelerometer calibration model that treats ... [more ▼]

Abstract In order to derive high-precision static GRACE-only gravity field solutions, the following strategies were implemented in this study: (1) a refined accelerometer calibration model that treats monthly accelerometer scales as a 3-order polynomial and daily accelerometer biases as a 5-order polynomial was developed to calibrate accelerometer measurements; (2) the errors of the acceleration and attitude data were estimated together with the geopotential coefficients and accelerometer parameters on the basis of the weighted least-squares adjustments; (3) a nearly complete observation series of GRACE mission was used to decrease the condition number of normal equation; and (4) the GRACE data collected in lower orbit altitude were also included to decrease the condition number. Our results show that: (1) the refined accelerometer calibration model with much less parameters performs as well as previous methods (i.e. solving daily scales and hourly biases or estimating biases along with bias rates every two hours). However, it provides a system of more stable normal equation and less high-frequency noise in gravity field solutions; (2) high-frequency noise in the gravity field solution is reduced by modelling the errors of the acceleration and attitude data; (3) the geopotential coefficients at all degrees is greatly enhanced by using longer GRACE time series (especially the data by the end of 2010); and (4) due to lower orbit altitude, the GRACE data collected since 2014 lead to a significant improvement of the gravity field solution as the satellites are more sensitive to higher-frequency signal. Using the refined strategies, an unconstrained static solution (named Tongji-Grace02s) up to degree and order 180 was derived. For further suppressing the high-frequency noise, a regularization strategy based on the Kaula rule is applied to the degrees and orders beyond 80, leading to a regularized model Tongji-Grace02k. To validate the quality of the derived models, both Tongji-Grace02s and Tongji-Grace02k were compared to the latest GRACE-only models (i.e. GGM05S, ITU\_GRACE16, ITSG-Grace2014s and ITSG-Grace2014k) and validated using independent data (i.e. GNSS/Levelling data and DTU13 oceanic gravity data). Compared to other models, much less spatial noise in terms of global gravity anomalies with respect to the state-of-the-art model EIGEN6C4 and far higher accuracy at high degrees are achieved by Tongji-Grace02s. The same conclusions can be drawn for Tongji-Grace02k when the same analyses were applied to the regularized solutions ITSG-Grace2014k and Tongji-Grace02k. Validations with independent data confirm that Tongji-Grace02s has the least noise among the unconstrained GRACE-only models and Tongji-Grace02k is the one with the best accuracy among the regularized GRACE-only solutions. For the tests up to degree and order 180 using GNSS/Levelling data, the improvements of Tongji-Grace02s with respect to ITSG-Grace2014s reach 13\% over the Canada and 23\% in the Mexico. Even better, no less than 58\% of improvement is achieved by both Tongji-Grace02s relative to ITSG-Grace2014s and Tongji-Grace02k with respect to ITSG-Grace2014k in the validation based on DTU13 data. [less ▲]

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

in Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth (2013), 118

In the event of a termination of the 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 ... [more ▼]

In the event of a termination of the 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 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. [less ▲]

The use of GPS horizontals for loading studies, with applications to northern California and southeast Greenland

in Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth (2013), 118

We describe how GPS measurements of horizontal crustal motion can be used to augment vertical crustal motion measurements, to improve and extend GPS studies of surface loading. We show that the ratio of ... [more ▼]

We describe how GPS measurements of horizontal crustal motion can be used to augment vertical crustal motion measurements, to improve and extend GPS studies of surface loading. We show that the ratio of the vertical displacement to the horizontal displacement, combined with the direction of the horizontal motion, can help determine whether nearby loading is concentrated in a small region (for example, in a single lake or glacier), and where that region is. We illustrate this method by applying it to two specific cases: an analysis of GPS data from northern California to monitor the level of Lake Shasta, and the analysis of data from a single GPS site in southeast Greenland to determine mass variability of two large, nearby outlet glaciers: Helheim Glacier and Midgaard Glacier. The California example serves largely as a proof-of-concept, where the results can be assessed by comparing with independent observations (Lake Shasta tide gauge data, in this case). Our Greenland results show that both Helheim and Midgaard have experienced notable interannual variations in mass loss rate over the last decade. Helheim’s mass loss accelerated rapidly in mid-2003, decelerated in late 2005, and increased again in 2008–2009 before returning to about its pre-2003 rate in late 2010. Midgaard’s mass loss accelerated in mid-2004, and remained more-or-less constant before returning to its pre-2003 rate in late 2008. [less ▲]

Correction to "Topographically induced height errors in predicted atmospheric loading effects"

in Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth (2011)

Figure 1 presented in the paper “Topographically induced height errors in predicted atmospheric loading effects” by van Dam et al., (Journal of Geophysical Research, VOL. 115, B07415, doi:10.1029 ... [more ▼]

Figure 1 presented in the paper “Topographically induced height errors in predicted atmospheric loading effects” by van Dam et al., (Journal of Geophysical Research, VOL. 115, B07415, doi:10.1029/2009JB006810) is incorrect. The correct image is presented here. The corrected image does not alter the conclusion presented in the original paper. [less ▲]

A Combination of Space and Terrestrial Geodetic Techniques to Monitor Land Subsidence: Case Study, the Southeastern Po Plain, Italy

in Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth (2007), 112(5),

The southeastern Po Plain is affected by high natural and anthropogenic subsidence. The area is well suited to test the application of an observational strategy which combines different techniques to ... [more ▼]

The southeastern Po Plain is affected by high natural and anthropogenic subsidence. The area is well suited to test the application of an observational strategy which combines different techniques to extract information on the spatial and temporal variability of the subsidence. The simultaneous availability, at a few stations, of several geodetic observation techniques such as Global Positioning System (GPS), gravity, and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) allows for validation of the individual time series. The combination takes advantage of the complementary strengths of each technique by overcoming the limitations inherent in each single technique alone. The combination of velocities derived from the GPS and gravity data, further complemented by the results of the InSAR Permanent Scatterers technique, allows us to monitor continuously, in space and time, vertical crustal movements. This high-density information is of major importance for understanding the processes responsible for the observed deformation. Here long-term trends were derived, enabling us to map the behavior of subsidence (even exceeding 20 mm/yr) with high spatial resolution in the southeastern Po Plain. The uplifting behavior of the Apennines chain bordering the Po Plain is identified together with a narrow zone separating the contrasting vertical crustal movements. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union. [less ▲]