The GRACE cube: visualizing 15 years of 5-second rate gravimetric data

The GRACE mission collected over 15 years of gravimetric data, with its various on-board instruments, namely the accelerometer, star-tracker and K-Band ranging system. Usually, those data are condensed into gravity and visualized in monthly snapshots. While this representation produces highly accurate mass transport estimates, it inherently truncates the temporal resolution in the gravimetric data. We represent in the spatial-temporal domain the 5-second post-fit gravimetric data collected by GRACE, representing the nearly continuous geophysical signal observed by GRACE that is captured in the monthly models. We explore this data cube and identify strong geophysical signals in river basins, Polar Regions and strong earthquakes, and isolate their temporal evolution. In this way, we attempt to illustrate GRACE's maximum temporal resolution that is not possible to represent in the monthly models.