GRACE-FO Science Results and Mission Status

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission has collected nearly 4 years of monthly gravity and mass change observations since its launch in May 2018. On March 17 we have celebrated the 20th anniversary of the GRACE launch. The combined GRACE/GRACE-FO mass change data record is therefore now spanning exactly two decades, and is an essential tool to quantify and track Earth’s water movement and surface mass changes across the planet. Monitoring changes in ice sheets and glaciers, near-surface and underground water storage, the amount of water in large lakes and rivers, as well as changes in sea level and ocean currents provides an integrated global view of how Earth’s water cycle and energy balance are evolving. In this presentation we will update the community on the current GRACE-FO mission status and near-term plans, including instrument and flight system performance (i.e., satellite health status and outlook, performance of precise inter-satellite ranging from the K/Ka band and Laser Ranging Interferometers, and accelerometry as processed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the official Level-1 data analysis center). We will discuss the GRACE-FO science data quality, reprocessing plans, and highlight recent science results, discoveries, and applications. Finally, we will conclude with a short outlook towards achieving continuity with future mass change missions.