Changes in Australia's Mass, June 2010 to February 2011

Changes in Australia's mass as reported by data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites from June 2010 to February 2011. Areas in greens and blues depict the greatest increases in mass, caused by excessive precipitation. The contour lines represent various land surface elevations. A new study co-authored and co-funded by NASA finds extensive flooding in Australia, combined with the continent's soils and unique topography, were the biggest contributors to the drop in global sea level observed in 2010 and 2011.

Image credit: NCAR/NASA/JPL-Caltech

Note: For more information, see Littlest Continent Had Biggest Role in Sea Level Drop.

Freshwater Losses in the Middle East

Variations in total water storage from normal, in millimeters, in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, as measured by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, from January 2003 through December 2009. Reds represent drier conditions, while blues represent wetter conditions. The majority of the water lost was due to reductions in groundwater caused by human activities. By periodically measuring gravity regionally, GRACE tells scientists how much water storage changes over time.

Image credit: NASA/UC Irvine/NCAR

Note: For more information, see NASA Satellites Find Freshwater Losses in Middle East.

Earth's Gravilty Field Map, Before and After GRACE

Before the launch of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) in 2002, scientists' knowledge of Earth's gravity field was based upon decades of data from geodetic satellites (left image). GRACE has allowed monthly gravity measurements that are more than 100 times more accurate than these previous models, permitting scientists to characterize how Earth's gravity field varies over time and space, as illustrated by the map on the right, produced after just 13 months of GRACE data.

Image credit: NASA/University of Texas Center for Space Research

Note: For more information, see At 10, GRACE Continues Defying, and Defining, Gravity.