| Session Details | |
| Section | SE - Solid Earth Sciences |
| Session Title | Satellite Gravimetry – Current Status, Geophysical Applications and Future Perspectives |
| Main Convener | Dr. Thomas Gruber (Technical University of Munich, Germany) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. Gerhard Heinzel (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Germany) Prof. Shuanggen Jin (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) Prof. Gang Jin (Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China) |
| Session Description | Satellite gravimetry, i.e. observing the Earth gravity field and its temporal variations from space, is the only measurement concept capable to provide a global view of mass distribution and mass variation in the system Earth. While the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission since more than a decade has paved the way for observing the time variable gravity field from space, the Gravity Field and Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission provided a consistent global model of the static gravity field with a resolution of 100 km and 1-2 cm accuracy in terms of geoid heights. Both missions triggered a huge number of new applications in various fields of applications like oceanography, continental hydrology, polar and mountain glacier ice mass monitoring, solid Earth geophysics, geodetic height systems and others. The great success of both missions, providing indispensable data for climate research studies, clearly shows that also in the future gravity and its variability has to be monitored from space. Therefore, various initiatives are ongoing to prepare for future gravity mission at different levels, like reassessment of mission requirements, improved instrumentation, innovative satellite concepts and new data processing strategies. Because the observation concepts intrinsically assume that the satellite as a whole is the gravity sensor there is a strong dependency between these components and a joint scientific-technological approach is required to prepare for future satellite gravimetry missions. This interdisciplinary session solicits contributions about (1) processing of satellite gravimetry mission data, (2) results from satellite gravimetry missions in terms of data analyses and Earth science applications, (3) mission concepts, instrumentation and processing strategies for future gravity field missions. |