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Full catalog/GREENLAND_MASS_TELLUS_MASCON_CRI_TIME_SERIES_RL06.3_V4
GREENLAND_MASS_TELLUS_MASCON_CRI_TIME_SERIES_RL06.3_V4·vRL06.3Mv04·dataset

How fast Greenland's ice is losing mass over time (GRACE)

Tellus Level-4 Greenland Mass Anomaly Time Series from JPL GRACE/GRACE-FO Mascon CRI Filtered Release 06.3 version 04
cryosphere NASA POCLOUD Level 4 ASCII
In plain English

What it measures. A running record of how the total amount of water mass over the global ocean has changed over time, expressed as the part of sea-level change caused by adding or removing water (rather than by water expanding as it warms).

How it's made. Derived from the GRACE and GRACE-FO satellite pair, which sense tiny shifts in Earth's gravity, and delivered as a simple table of numbers over time.

How & where you'd use it. Helps researchers separate how much sea-level rise comes from extra water (such as melting ice) versus warming-driven expansion, and track ocean mass trends.

What's measured

CRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › GLACIER MASS BALANCE/ICE SHEET MASS BALANCECLIMATE INDICATORS › CRYOSPHERIC INDICATORS › GLACIAL MEASUREMENTS › GLACIER MASS BALANCE/ICE SHEET MASS BALANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2002-04-01 → ongoing
  • Measured byGRACE (GRACE INTERFEROMETER) · GRACE-FO (GRACE-FO MWI)
  • Processing levelLevel 4
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsASCII
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Measure sea ice, snow cover and glaciers
  • Watch ice-sheet elevation change
  • Track freeze/thaw and permafrost
Official description

This dataset is a time series of mass variability averaged over all of the global ocean. It provides the non-steric or mass only sea level changes over time. The mass variability are derived from JPL GRACE Mascon Ocean, Ice, and Hydrology Equivalent Water Height CRI Filtered RL06.3Mv04 dataset, which can be found at https://doi.org/10.5067/TEMSC-3JC634. A more detailed description on the Mascon solution, including the mathematical derivation, implementation of geophysical constraints, and solution validation, please see Watkins et al., 2015, doi: 10.1002/2014JB011547. The mass variability is provided as an ASCII table.

Get the data

greenland_mass_tellus_mascon_cri_time_series_rl06.3_v4_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="GREENLAND_MASS_TELLUS_MASCON_CRI_TIME_SERIES_RL06.3_V4",
    version="RL06.3Mv04",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from POCLOUD
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.