Advances in Satellite Gravity Field Retrieval: From GRACE/GRACE-FO to Future Missions
A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Satellite Missions for Earth and Planetary Exploration".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 142
Editors
Interests: geoid; terrain corrections; gravity; gravity satellite missions; GRACE; GRACE-FO; gravity anomalies
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) revolutionized understanding of the Earth mass transport. It provided the first global maps of groundwater depletion, ice sheet melting in Greenland and Antarctica, and sea-level rise. GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) was launched to ensure data continuity after its successful predecessor. The scientific community is now looking toward Next Generation Gravity Missions. The current goal is to solve two main limitations of GRACE/GRACE-FO: temporal aliasing and spatial resolution. The near-future mission MAGIC (Mass Change and Geoscience International Constellation) proposes using two pairs of satellites—in a polar and an inclined orbits. This geometry significantly reduces "striping" artifacts in the data and allows for much higher temporal resolution. Moreover, prospective future missions may move away from satellite-to-satellite ranging toward Quantum Cold Atom Interferometry. These sensors use the wave-particle duality of atoms to measure gravity gradients with extreme sensitivity.
The primary aim of further scientific research on satellite gravity field retrieval is to quantify global mass transport within the Earth’s system with higher precision as well as better spatial and temporal resolution. In particular, this research seeks to:
- Ensure a continuous record of Earth's mass changes to accurately track long-term climate trends;
- Develop new hardware (like Laser Ranging Interferometry) and processing algorithms (de-striping) to separate the "true" gravity signal from noise;
- Improve the spatial resolution to move from monitoring large regions (like the Amazon) to tracking groundwater depletion in individual river or agricultural basins;
- Progress from monthly solutions to near-real-time data delivery, which would boost the use of the gravity field for early warning systems for extreme climate events (e.g., floods, droughts), and large-scale tectonic activities.
The topics may cover any research related to recent developments in gravity field retrieval techniques from the GRACE mission and the GRACE-FO mission toward next-generation satellite gravimetry missions and their diverse Earth science applications. Articles may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Constellation design and optimization.
- Technological innovations.
- Sophisticated modelling/simulation.
- Data processing and noise reduction.
- Earth science-related applications such as hydrological mass extremes, cryosphere dynamics and sea level, groundwater depletion, ocean bottom pressure and circulation, solid Earth and geodynamics.
- Geoid and height systems.
- Synergy with other data including GRACE data assimilation.
Dr. Malgorzata Szelachowska
Dr. Walyeldeen Godah
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- gravity satellite missions
- satellite mission constellation
- technological innovations
- hydrology
- groundwater
- cryosphere
- noise reduction
- data integration
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
