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Full catalog/TELLUS_GRAC-GRFO_MASCON_GRID_RL06.3_V4
TELLUS_GRAC-GRFO_MASCON_GRID_RL06.3_V4·vRL06.3Mv04·dataset

Where Earth's water mass shifts, gridded (GRACE)

JPL GRACE and GRACE-FO Mascon Ocean, Ice, and Hydrology Equivalent Water Height JPL Release 06.3 Version 04
hydrosphere NASA POCLOUD Level 3 netCDF-4
In plain English

What it measures. Monthly global maps of where water mass is shifting around the planet, shown as how much the local water 'height' rises or falls compared to a long-term average. The same data covers oceans, ice, and land water.

How it's made. Derived from the GRACE and GRACE-FO satellites sensing tiny changes in Earth's gravity, processed at JPL using a method that builds the map from many small mass blocks rather than smoothed global math, delivered as a netCDF grid.

How & where you'd use it. Used to study melting ice, groundwater and drought, and ocean changes. The data doesn't separate land from ocean signal near coastlines, so it's aimed at users who'll handle that themselves.

What's measured

TERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE › WATER BUDGET › TERRESTRIAL WATER STORAGETERRESTRIAL HYDROSPHERE › GROUND WATERCRYOSPHERE › GLACIERS/ICE SHEETS › GLACIER MASS BALANCE/ICE SHEET MASS BALANCE

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2002-04-04 → ongoing
  • Measured byGRACE-FO (GRACE-FO MWI, GRACE-FO LRI, GRACE-FO ACC, GRACE-FO SCA) · GRACE (KBR, GRACE LRR, GRACE ACC, GRACE SCA)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • Spatial extent-180, -90, 180, 90
  • FormatsnetCDF-4
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Follow rainfall, floods and surface-water extent
  • Track soil moisture and the onset of drought
  • Monitor lakes, rivers and groundwater storage
Official description

This dataset contains gridded monthly global water storage/height anomalies relative to a time-mean, derived from GRACE and GRACE-FO and processed at JPL using the Mascon approach (RL06.3Mv04). These data are provided in a single data file in netCDF format, and can be used for analysis for ocean, ice, and hydrology phenomena. The data are provided in a single data file in netCDF format, with water storage/height anomalies in equivalent water thickness units (cm). The data are derived from solving for monthly gravity field variations on geolocated spherical cap mass concentration functions, rather than global spherical harmonic coefficients. Additionally, realistic geophysical information is introduced during the computation to intrinsically remove correlated errors. Thus, these Mascon grids do not need to be de-correlated or smoothed, like traditional spherical harmonic gravity solutions. The complete Mascon solution consists of 4,551 independent estimates of surface mass change that have been derived using an equal-area 3-degree grid of individual mascons. Please note that this dataset does not correct for leakage errors across coastlines; it is therefore recommended only for users who want to apply their own algorithm to separate between land and ocean mass very near coastlines. This RL06.3Mv04 is an updated version of the previous Tellus JPL Mascon RL06.1Mv03. For more information, please visit https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/data/get-data/jpl_global_mascons/. For a detailed description on the Mascon processing, including the mathematical derivation, implementation of geophysical constraints, and validation, please see Watkins et al., 2015, doi: 10.1002/2014JB011547. This product is intended for expert use only; other users are encouraged to use the CRI-filtered Mascon dataset, which is available here: https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/dataset/TELLUS_GRAC-GRFO_MASCON_GRID_RL06.3_V4.

Get the data

tellus_grac-grfo_mascon_grid_rl06.3_v4_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="TELLUS_GRAC-GRFO_MASCON_GRID_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.