INTERGEO Agenda - deutsch

Various studies have demonstrated the use of GRACE data in hydrological and oceanographic research. Recent years have also seen progress in assimilating GRACE-derived TWSA maps in hydrological models, with applications in spatial downscaling of TWSA, partitioning e.g. soil moisture and groundwater, and hydrological drought forecast. However, assimilation of GRACE data in more complex models aids in improving various variables of the coupled water, energy and carbon cycles, in particular when combined with other remote sensing observations. Even if the contribution of satellite gravity data in such multivariate reanalyses to more 'distant' variables like soil temperature, leaf area index or water use efficiency may appear limited, this approach enables one to create physically consistent and realistic descriptions of hundreds of state variables, with only few directly observed. These reanalyses can the be used further as 'synthesized ground truth' for testing hypotheses on climate change and anthropogenic drivers via scenario simulations. In the presentation, I will provide a few examples and suggest new lines of research, also in view of the upcoming missions.