GRACE-FO Gravity Solutions Using Variational Methods with Range Acceleration Data

Estimation of Earth gravity fields, both spherical harmonic and mascons, using variational methods with GRACE and GRACE-FO data have typically been done using range rate observations. While simulations have shown that using range acceleration observations has the potential to provide more accurate gravity fields compared to those obtained using range rate, using the nominal range acceleration observations, provided in the L1B product, produces gravity fields that are significantly worse than those obtained with range rate data. This study presents alternate strategies for GRACE-FO gravity field estimation using range acceleration and compares the results from the different techniques. The paper also discusses the results from estimation of mascon solutions using range accelerations as compared to the traditional mascon estimation from range rate.