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CHAMP-, GRACE-, GOCE-Satellite Projects

Encyclopedia of Geodesy

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Definition

The launch of the first generation of satellite gravity missions, i.e., CHAMP (Challenging Minisatellite Payload; Reigber et al., 2002), GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment; Tapley et al., 2004), and GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer; Drinkwater et al., 2003), has revolutionized our knowledge of the global Earth’s gravity field and its temporal changes, which are related to geophysical processes of mass redistribution on our planet. Since they are the only measurement technique which can directly observe mass changes on a global scale, they are a unique observational system for monitoring mass transport in the Earth system.

Still 15 years ago, this knowledge was limited (a) spatially, mainly due to a very heterogeneous distribution and quality of terrestrial gravity observations, and (b) temporally, due to a lack of repeat measurements. The great advantage of satellite-based techniques is to observe the Earth’s gravity field on a...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Astronomical and Physical Geodesy, TechnischeUniversitätMünchen, Arcisstraße 21, D-80333, Munich, Germany

    Roland Pail

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  1. Roland Pail
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Correspondence to Roland Pail .

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  1. Geodetic Institute, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Erik Grafarend

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Pail, R. (2014). CHAMP-, GRACE-, GOCE-Satellite Projects. In: Grafarend, E. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geodesy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02370-0_29-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02370-0_29-1

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Space Gravity Missions: CHAMP, GRACE, GRACE-FO, and GOCE, Satellite Projects
    Published:
    17 March 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02370-0_29-2

  2. Original

    CHAMP-, GRACE-, GOCE-Satellite Projects
    Published:
    21 May 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02370-0_29-1

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