News related to GRACE-FO Gravity Data

This page is regularly updated and contains important news about GRACE-FO data products from the Science Data System (SDS) as well as useful hints how to use the most recent GRACE-FO RL04 Level-1 and RL06 Level-2 data. Additional information may also be taken from the GRACE-FO SDS Monthly Newsletters.

Further mission news are provided here.

2019

August 2019:

• CSR, GFZ, and JPL have delivered GRACE-FO Level-2 products for June 2019.
  
  
• The GRACE-FO Project Science Data System team is pleased to announce the release of the first Level-1 (1A and 1B) data from the Laser Ranging Interferometer (LRI) technology demonstration instrument. This first release contains products for 2018-06-11 (first LRI instrument power-on) through 2019-07-05, and LRI products beyond 2019-07-05 will be made available in synch with the nominal Level-1 data releases. Please refer to the Level-1 Release Notes for important information, and to the Level-1 handbook for a detailed description of data formats and processing conventions.
  
  
• GFZ has updated its web portal GravIS (Gravity Information Service) with user-friendly mass anomaly products with the last seven months of the GRACE mission and the first ten months of the GFZ GRACE-FO RL06 time series. The complete time series of GravIS Level-2B and Level-3 products covers now the period from April 2002 through May 2019 (173 months).

July 2019:

• CSR, GFZ, and JPL have delivered GRACE-FO Level-2 products for May 2019.

June 2019:

• The GRACE-FO Project Science Data System team is pleased to announce the release of the first GRACE-FO Level-2 data set. Level-2 products comprise monthly gravity field solutions (GSM products) up to degree and order 60 and 96, resp., from CSR, GFZ, and JPL, as well as associated GA* products. This first product release includes gravity field solutions for the following nine months: June 2018, July 2018, October 2018, November 2018, December 2018, January 2019, February 2019, March 2019 and April 2019.

• Please carefully read each processing center’s Level-2 release notes and the available Level-2 documentation for a detailed description of the data, file formats, updates, and user recommendations.

May 2019:

• The GRACE-FO Project Science Data System team is pleased to announce the release of the first GRACE-FO Level-1 (1A and 1B) data set. This first product release includes all Level-1 data necessary for the generation of Level-2 gravity field products. The data span the period from June 2018, initial power-up of the instruments during in orbit check out (IOC), through early May 2019, the most recent data available in the operational Phase E. Subsequent Level-1 products will be made available approximately every 7 days starting on May 30, 2019.
  
  
• Please refer to Level-1 release notes and documentation for a detailed description of the data, file formats, updates, and conventions.
  
  
• Corresponding Level-2 gravity field products will begin to be delivered in the following weeks, with the complete first mission year delivered by end of June 2019. Subsequent Level-2 products will be made available on a regular basis starting in July 2019.