Abstract:

The first two years of GRACE data show strong continental hydrology mass change signals that are important for a range of Earth system science studies and applications. In this presentation we review the progress of our science team group since the July 2004 Potsdam meeting. GRACE is providing unique insights into terrestrial hydrology that have never been possible before. We discuss the new understanding of the continental hydroclimatology that GRACE has enabled. Our group has devoted considerable effort to develop new filtering methods that preserve water mass change signals at basin scales. Recent contributions will be reviewed. New applications for estimating continental freshwater discharge will be discussed, as will implications for monitoring water storage changes in large, groundwater aquifer systems.