Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4688517 Journal of Geodynamics 2010 7 Pages PDF
Abstract
The ESA Gravity and steady state Ocean and Circulation Explorer, GOCE, mission will utilise the principle of satellite gravity gradiometry to measure the long to medium wavelengths in the static gravity field. Previous studies have demonstrated the low sensitivity of GOCE to ocean tides and to temporal gravity field variations at the seasonal scale. In this study we investigate the sensitivity of satellite gradiometry missions such as GOCE to secular signals due to ice-mass change observed in Greenland and Antarctica. We show that unaccounted ice-mass change signal is likely to increase GOCE-related noise but that the expected present-day polar ice-mass change is below the GOCE sensitivity for an 18-month mission. Furthermore, 2-3 orders of magnitude improvement in the gradiometry in future gradiometer missions is necessary to detect ice-mass change with sufficient accuracy at the spatial resolution of interest.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Earth-Surface Processes
Authors
, ,