HR: 0800h
AN: H21D-1382    [Abstracts]
TI: Water Storage Estimates From GRACE Time-Variable Gravity Measurements
AU: * Wahr, J
EM: wahr@lemond.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, Department of Physics and CIRES, Campus Box 390, Boulder, CO 80309-0390 United States
AU: Swenson, S
EM: swensosc@lemond.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, Department of Physics and CIRES, Campus Box 390, Boulder, CO 80309-0390 United States
AU: Velicogna, I
EM: isabella@lemond.colorado.edu
AF: University of Colorado, Department of Physics and CIRES, Campus Box 390, Boulder, CO 80309-0390 United States
AB: The GRACE satellite mission is providing regular, monthly solutions for the Earth's gravity field. Two years of results are presently available, with more on the way. A satellite lifetime of 8-10 years is now expected. We are using the time-variable component of these solutions to compute monthly changes in the large-scale distribution of water, snow, and ice stored on land. We are using these results to assess global water storage models and to estimate the mass balance of the polar ice sheets. We are combining the results with river discharge data to estimate precipitation minus evapotranspiration over large river basins. We have developed methods of quantifying the uncertainties in all these results. In this presentation we will discuss these estimates and their uncertainties, and compare with hydrologic and atmospheric models.
DE: 0726 Ice sheets
DE: 1217 Time variable gravity (7223, 7230)
DE: 1836 Hydrological cycles and budgets (1218, 1655)
DE: 1855 Remote sensing (1640)
DE: 1876 Water budgets
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005