Can GPS-derived surface loading bridge a GRACE mission gap?

R. Rietbroek*, Mathias Fritsche, Christoph Dahle, Sandra Esther Brunnabend, Madlen Behnisch, Jürgen Kusche, Frank Flechtner, Jens Schröter, Reinhard Dietrich

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We investigated two ‘gap-filler’ methods based on GPS-derived low-degree surface loading variations (GPS-I and GPS-C) and a more simple method (REF-S) which extends a seasonal harmonic variation into the expected Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission gap. We simulated two mission gaps in a reference solution (REF), which is derived from a joint inversion of GRACE (RL05) data, GPS-derived surface loading and simulated ocean bottom pressure. The GPS-I and GPS-C methods both have a new type of constraint applied to mitigate the lack of GPS station network coverage over the ocean. To obtain the GPS-C solution, the GPS-I method is adjusted such that it fits the reference solution better in a 1.5 year overlapping period outside of the gap. As can be expected, the GPS-I and GPS-C solutions contain larger errors compared to the reference solution, which is heavily constrained by GRACE. Within the simulated gaps, the GPS-C solution generally fits the reference solution better compared to the GPS-I method, both in terms of spherical harmonic loading coefficients and in terms of selected basin-averaged hydrological mass variations. Depending on the basin, the RMS-error of the water storage variations (scaled for leakage effects) ranges between 1.6 cm (Yukon) and 15.3 cm (Orinoco). In terms of noise level, the seasonal gap-filler method (REF-S) even outperforms the GPS-I and GPS-C methods, which are still affected by spatial aliasing problems. However, it must be noted that the REF-S method cannot be used beyond the study of simple harmonic seasonal variations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1267-1283
Number of pages17
JournalSurveys in Geophysics
Volume35
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jan 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Basin averages
  • GPS
  • GRACE
  • Mission gap
  • Surface loading
  • ITC-CV

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Can GPS-derived surface loading bridge a GRACE mission gap?'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this