PI Anne Springer explains how gravity observations from the GRACE and GRACE-FO satellite missions are used to improve numerical Earth system models to study the impact of human activities on the European climate, such as changes in land use or irrigation practices.
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Satellite gravimetry has great potential for improving numerical Earth system models that simulate Earth system processes and the interactions between its components, e.g. between the atmosphere and the land surface. Observations from the GRACE and GRACE-FO satellite missions provide a 20-year time series of changes in terrestrial water storage, which can be used to improve the representation of the water cycle in these models. In the Collaborative Research Centre DETECT, researchers are working on integrating the GRACE/-FO data into a high-resolution, fully coupled Earth system model over Europe. This optimized Earth system model makes it possible to study the impact of human activities on the European climate, such as changes in land use or irrigation practices.
Anne Springer, University of Bonn
Fig. 1: Trends in terrestrial water storage for the period 2003 to 2021. (Credits model runs: Yorck Ewerdwalbesloh, University of Bonn)
Read full article on https://www.globalwaterstorage.info/en/satellite-gravimetry-improves-land-surface-model-simulations
