Along-track analysis of GRACE and GRACE Follow-On KBR and LRI data for new science applications

We present a method of analysing inter-satellite tracking data for detecting short-term (sub-monthly) gravitational changes from GRACE and GRACE Follow-On.  The method is based on the residual range-rate data with respect to the reference range-rate computed with dynamic orbital state vectors.  Then, we apply a numerical differentiation to compute range-acceleration residuals.  We found that the range-acceleration residuals are near-perfectly correlated with the line-of-sight gravity difference (LGD) between two spacecrafts and the transfer (admittance) function between them can be determined regardless of time and space (Ghobadi-Far et al., 2018, JGR-Solid Earth, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JB016088).  The transfer function, to be applied directly to range-acceleration residuals, enables accurate LGD determination with the error of 0.15 nm/s^2 over the frequency band higher than 1 mHz (5 cycles-per-revolution), whereas the actual GRACE measurement error is several times larger.

In this presentation, we present two new geophysical applications to examine high-frequency gravitational changes at times scales of significantly less than one month; Gravitational observation of tsunamis triggered by the 2004 Sumatra, 2010 Maule, and 2011 Tohoku earthquakes and transient gravitational changes due to Earth’s free oscillation excited by the 2004 earthquake.  Lastly, we present new results from GRACE Follow-On KBR and LRI inter-satellite ranging data.