1

WHITE PAPER

Annual water storage estimates in the Amazon basin

from GRACE and GOCE satellite gravity data

M. Fuchs 1 , J. Bouman 2 , C. Schwatke 3
1
Email: drfuchsm@gmail.com, Siegenburgerstr. 35, 81373 Munich
2
Email: Johannes.Bouman@bkg.bund.de, BKG, Richard-Strauss-Allee 11, 60598 Frankfurt am Main
3
Email: christian.schwatke@tum.de, TUM, Arcisstraße 21, 80333 Munich

Abstract — GOCE gravity gradient data have potential to spatially improve the annual gravity field change
caused by water storage changes in the Amazon basin. The GOCE mission goal was to measure the global
static gravity field with unprecedented accuracy, but due to large annual amplitudes of the change in water
level and a localization of the temporal signal in the Amazon basin, at scales where the GOCE mission is most
sensitive, it is possible to be sensitive to these signals by means of GOCE gravity gradient data. To optimize
the signal to noise of the annual changes we apply an optimized GRACE and GOCE combination on the
gravity gradient level, and apply a local gravity field estimation of annual periodic signals. The study shows
that our results are in agreement with annual phase signals and relative amplitudes derived from multi
mission altimetry data, but show clear deviations to spatial pattern of hydrological models to a GRACE only
and a GRACE and GOCE combined analysis. The deviations to state of the art hydrological models may be
attributed to unavailability or spatial limitation of surface runoff or precipitation data or missing
groundwater data which is mirrored in the estimation quality of the total water storage change. This
circumstance highlights the potential of fine scale gravity field data sensing the total signal of the hydrological
cycle on improved spatial scales even the absolute signal accuracy is worse compared with monthly GRACE
data.

Index Terms— Annual water cycle, Amazon basin, groundwater, surface water, GRACE, GOCE, Multi-
mission altimetry, Hydrological models, local gravity field analysis

I. INTRODUCTION
The primary goal of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) is to accurately map
variations in Earth's gravity field [Tapley et al. 2004]. Since its launch in 2002, GRACE contributed to
numerous applications and lead to an improved observation and understanding of the hydrological cycle.
For an overview see [Ramillien et al. 2008]. The GRACE twin satellites track the line of sight distance to
each other very accurately (micrometer accuracy) in a polar orbit at around 450 km above the Earth’s
surface, with inherently dominant north-south sensitivity. GRACE monthly global gravity field solutions
are typically Gaussian filtered and destriping filters may be applied as well [e.g. Swenson and Wahr 2006;
Kusche 2007].

The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) was a satellite gravity gradiometry
mission that was the European Space Agency’s satellite gravity mission launched on 17 March 2009
providing continuous gravity field information from 2009 – 2013 at a higher spatial resolution than
GRACE. Although GOCE was designed to determine the Earth’s mean gravity field [Visser et al., 2002], it
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has been shown that GOCE is sensitive to temporal gravity field variations. In particular, Bouman et al.
[2014] demonstrated how GOCE gravity gradiometry observations can be combined with GRACE data to
estimate ice-mass changes in the Amundsen Sea Sector (Antarctica) with refined resolution compared with
GRACE only solutions. Additionally, GOCE-only and GOCE in combination with GRACE have been
successfully used to detect and model gravity field changes associated with the Tohoku-Oki 2011
earthquake [Fuchs et al. 2013, 2015].

These results motivate studying the use of gradiometry information to determine continental water storage
variations in the Amazon basin. The variations over the Amazon region do not only have a large annual
signal, but in addition appear focused in the central Amazon area [e.g. Chen et al. 2009, Papa et al., 2013].
Independent satellite altimeter data and models, such as the Database for Hydrological Time Series of
Inland Water (DAHITI, http://dahiti.dgfi.tum.de) and hydrological models, can be used for validation
purposes. Here we analyze whether water storage changes are detectable by means of gravity gradient
measurements provided by the GOCE mission and can be validated with this independent information.

An advantage of GOCE is that it provides gravity gradient data with uniform sensitivity in all orientations
(isotropy), whereas the GRACE observing strategy produces north-south anisotropy. GOCE orbit data have
been used to determine very long wavelength variations in the Amazon basin [Visser et al. 2014], but here
we use the combination of GRACE and GOCE gravity gradiometry in an attempt to improve the spatial
resolution of GRACE. Note: GOCE gravity gradient data may be suited in combination with GRACE
monthly solutions to lower the less accurate sectorial GRACE information present in monthly solutions.

Our paper is organized as shown in the following. The GRACE and GOCE data, the satellite altimeter data
and the hydrological model data are discussed in chapter 2. In chapter 3, the results of the analysis of
geometric and gravimetric annual equivalent water heights are shown. In chapter 4 we conclude our
analysis.

II. DATA AND METHODS

Figure 1: Schematic overview of the data processing, data analysis and the validation
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A. Data and Models

In this study we perform an analysis using GRACE data and a combination of GRACE and GOCE data for
annual mass change retrieval in the Amazon basin. To validate our results, we compare the retrieved annual
signals to hydrological signals based on model data from WGHM and GLDAS and Altimetry
measurements (Figure 1).
The GRACE data thereby cover CSR RL05 fields [Bettadpur et al., 2012] which are given in monthly
intervals, evaluated for the time period November 2009 to October 2013. The monthly fields are
represented by a spherical harmonic coefficient set up to degree and order 90. As recommended in Cheng
et al., 2013 we replace the 𝐶20 coefficient with values determined from satellite laser ranging, because here
the derived SLR values are most accurately determined. From the monthly fields the static gravity field
coefficient of the GOCO03s [Mayer-Guerr et al., 2013] have been removed which results in the coefficient
set ΔClm and ΔSlm representing temporal changes of Earth’s gravitational potential. After applying the
Gaussian filter matrix, we convert the potential SH-coefficients to annual equivalent water height changes
represented by EWHcos/sin (see Figure 2).

Besides data from the GRACE mission GOCE data has been used to study annual mass variations at
improved spatial scales prior to a GRACE only solution. To perform this study, GOCE data from
November 2009 until October 2013, with the exception of a few data gaps caused by instrument anomalies,
have been analyzed. GOCE measured the VXX, VYY, VZZ, VXY, VXZ and VYZ gravity gradients, with
approximately X along track, Y cross track and Z in radial direction. The orientation of the along-track
gradiometer reference frame (GRF) can thereby differ to a local frame according to [Fuchs and Bouman
2011]. The gradients are calibrated and corrected for temporal gravity field variations such as e.g. tides
[Bouman et al., 2009, 2011]. The VXY and VYZ gradients have low accuracy, whereas the other gradients
are accurate, especially in the so-called measurement bandwidth (MB), which was defined before launch to
be between 5 and 100 milliHertz (mHz). The VXX, VYY and VZZ gradients have the highest accuracy in the
frequency range between 5 and 100 mHz, where the VXX and VYY components are about twice as accurate
as VZZ [Bouman et al., 2011]. In practice, the effective MB may differ from the pre-defined MB [Fuchs and
Bouman, 2011]. Due to this band-limitation, the low frequency signals (for each gravity gradient
component respectively) must be replaced by more accurate data, which is done here using synthetic
gradient information of the GRACE monthly fields. The combination has been applied similar as shown in
[Fuchs and Bouman 2011] (see also section B2). These data have then been used further in a local gravity
gradient interpolation where the radial component Vrr cos/sin has been derived (see Figure 2).

Finally applying Gaussian filtering, surface equivalent water heights have been derived from GRACE only
and the GRACE/GOCE combined gradients which are further compared to state of the art hydrology
models and altimeter data.

The WaterGAP Global Hydrology Model (WGHM) provides calibrated flows and storages of continental
hydrology [Werth and Güntner 2010]. The WGHM model computations are performed with a daily
temporal resolution and a spatial resolution of 0.5°x0.5°. The model input includes time series of climate
data (e.g. precipitation, temperature and solar radiation) and physiogeographic information like
characteristics of surface water bodies (lakes, reservoirs and wetlands), land cover, soil type, topography
and irrigated area. We use monthly surface grids of freshwater storage for the computation of the annual
water storage change (see Figure 2).

The Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) ingests satellite and ground-based observational data
products, using advanced land surface modeling and data assimilation techniques, in order to generate
optimal fields of land surface states and fluxes [Rodell et al., 2004]. The GLDAS model provides soil
moisture estimates from surface down to 200 cm depth, where for this study we make use of the
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accumulated soil moisture layers and convert the surface density to EWHs.

The Database for Hydrological Time Series of Inland Waters (DAHITI) developed by the Deutsches
Geodätisches Forschungsinsitut der Technischen Universität München (DGFI-TUM) provides water level
time series of lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. Cross-calibrated altimeter measurements from different altimeter
missions are used as input data to estimate homogenous time series for more than two decades (Bosch et al.
2014). The methodology of the DAHITI approach estimating water level time series is based on a Kalman
filter approach and an extended outlier detection using multi-mission altimeter data (Schwatke et al. 2015).

For small lakes and rivers, an additional retracking of the altimeter measurements is applied to achieve
improved and more reliable water level time series. In this paper, only altimeter missions covering the
GOCE period such as Envisat (2002-2010), SARAL/AltiKa (2013 - active), and Jason-2 (2008 - active) are
used. The extended mission phase of Envisat (2010-2012) is not considered because of the interleaved and
drifting orbit. Jason-2 has a repeat cycle of 9.9156 days and a track separation at the equator of about 300
km. In contrast, Envisat and SARAL/AltiKa have a repeat cycle of 35 days and a track separation of about
80 km. But a data gap remains between Oct. 2010 and Mar. 2013 in the Envisat and SARAL/AltiKa time
series because of a missing mission on this track within this period.

B. Methods
1) GRACE-only
The Stokes coefficients of the GRACE-CSR series complete to spherical harmonic degree and order 90,
with the C_20 coefficients from SLR, were stacked to a 3.5year interval. From this stack the background
model GOCO-03s has been subtract. As consequence we have a residual coefficient set over time:
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡
𝛥𝐶𝑙𝑚 (𝑡) = 𝐶𝑙𝑚 (𝑡) − 𝐶𝑙𝑚 (1.1)
𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡 (1.2)
𝛥𝑆𝑙𝑚 (𝑡) = 𝑆𝑙𝑚 (𝑡) − 𝑆𝑙𝑚

Using the coefficient set of Equ. 1.1 and Equ. 1.2 an annual cosine, sine and bias has been estimated. For
this reason, we set up the linear relation between our annual model.

cos(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡0 ) sin(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡0 ) 𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑠 cos(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡0 ) sin(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡0 ) 𝑐 𝑠𝑖𝑛

cos(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡1 ) sin(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡1 ) 𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑠 cos(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡1 ) sin(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡1 ) 𝑐 𝑠𝑖𝑛
𝑨= (2.0)
⋮
[cos(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡𝑁 ) sin(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡𝑁 ) 𝑐 𝑐𝑜𝑠 cos(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡𝑁 ) sin(2𝜋/𝑎 ∙ 𝑡𝑁 ) 𝑐 𝑠𝑖𝑛 ]

∆𝒙 = (𝑨⊺ ∙ 𝑨)−1 ∙ 𝑨⊺ ∙ ∆𝒃 (2.1)

Performing the annual estimation to the Stoke’s coefficient set, we end up with the annual terms ΔClmcos/sin,
ΔSlmcos/sin which represent the annual potential change used for the computation of the local EWH change.

2) Combination of GRACE and GOCE data in a regional gravity gradient estimation

We combine GRACE and GOCE on the observational level of GOCE gravity gradients similar as in
[Bouman et al., 2014]. Specifically, we combine the GOCE gravity gradients with synthetic gravity
gradients from GRACE-CSR RL05 monthly solutions [Bettadpur, 2012] with orientation of the GOCE
gradiometer reference frame along the GOCE orbit. As GRACE monthly solutions are not available for
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each month over the GOCE mission measurement duration, we avoid data outage in the GRACE/GOCE
combination by interpolating the adjacent monthly GRACE solutions. The GOCE data were then combined
with these intermediate products. However, this is only relevant for a few months of GRACE data. The
GOCE data were band-pass filtered between 10 and 100 mHz and the GRACE derived gradients were low-
pass filtered with the complement of the band-pass filter. The lower cutoff frequency of 10 mHz roughly
corresponds to SH degree L = 54, at which degree GRACE and GOCE contribute equally. GRACE CSR
RL05 solutions dominate for lower degrees, whereas GOCE becomes increasingly important for higher
degrees. Also here the C20 coefficient was replaced by an SLR derived value.

The along-track GRACE and GOCE combined gravity gradients of Vxx, Vyy, Vzz and Vxz given in the
GRF are then combined in a further analysis to radial gravity gradient in the ECEF reference frame.

To estimate the gravity gradient changes at GOCE mean orbit height we make use of the tesseroid software
(Grombein et al. 2013) where tesseroids (spherical mass grids) located at Earth’s surface are used to
interpolate the GOCE measurements in the least squares sense at orbit height (Fuchs 2015, Bouman et al.
2016). Here we interpolate the data not only spatially but also estimate a temporal signal, fitting a bias and
a sine and a cosine annual periodic signal. All three parameters are modeled as deviation of the surface
mass change of a single element where density is applied as scaling quantity for each individual tesseroid
(𝑖, 𝑗):
𝑏𝑖𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛 2𝜋 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2𝜋
𝜌𝑖,𝑗 (𝑡) = 𝜌𝑖,𝑗 + 𝜌𝑖,𝑗 sin ( 𝑡) + 𝜌𝑖,𝑗 cos ( 𝑡) (3.0)
𝑎 𝑎
The estimated obtained tesseroid grid for the elements (𝑖, 𝑗) are then used to derive the gravity gradient
change, as superposition of all scaling quantities, at mean GOCE orbit height of 260 km.

From the interpolated gravity gradient grids at 260 km height, the annual sine and cosine signals are
converted to a set of spherical harmonic coefficients applying spherical harmonic analysis. Due to the
spatial filtering of the tesseroid elements at orbit height, this approach dampens already noise before the
downward continuation process.

However, due to the fact that high spherical harmonic coefficients dominate noise for the downward
conversion, we apply additionally a Gaussian weighting with ~90 km width. This smoother lowers the
noise which would come from higher spherical harmonics in the downward conversion process. These
higher harmonics are spatially needed to accumulate local signals derived from the spherical harmonic
domain.

Applying spherical harmonic synthesis to the derived filtered coefficient set Δ𝐶 ∗ 𝑙𝑚 and Δ𝑆 ∗ 𝑙𝑚 , the
equivalent water heights (EWH) can be computed with [Wahr et al., 1998]:
𝐿 𝑙
𝑎𝜌𝑎𝑣𝑒 2𝑙 + 1
EWH(𝜙, 𝜆) = ∑ ∑ 𝑃̅𝑙𝑚 (sin 𝜙) (Δ𝐶 ∗ 𝑙𝑚 cos 𝑚𝜆 + Δ𝑆 ∗ 𝑙𝑚 sin 𝑚𝜆) (4.0)
3𝜌𝑤 1 + 𝑘𝑙
𝑙=0 𝑚=0

where 𝜙 and 𝜆 are geocentric latitude and longitude, 𝑎 is the average Earth radius, 𝜌𝑎𝑣𝑒 = 5517 kg/m3 is
the average Earth density, 𝜌𝑤 = 1000 kg/m3 is water density, 𝑙 and 𝑚 are spherical harmonic degree and
order with maximum (truncation) degree 𝐿, 𝑃̅𝑙𝑚 (sin 𝜙) are the fully normalized associated Legendre
functions, 𝑘𝑙 is the load Love number of degree 𝑙 and Δ𝐶𝑙𝑚 , Δ𝑆𝑙𝑚 are the Stokes coefficients with a
reference or mean value subtracted.

To compute the EWHs we make use of the Love numbers provided by Dong et al 1996 and Farrell 1972
and extend the love number range to degree 360 using Guo et al. (2004). Equation (6) has been applied to
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the GRACE only and the GRACE/GOCE combined solution respectively.

3) Computation of Amplitude and Phase signals

From the downward converted EWH grids for sine and cosine signals, we can derive the total annual signal
as shown in Equ. 5.0.
2𝜋 2𝜋
𝐸𝑊𝐻(𝜙, 𝜆, 𝑡) = EWH 𝑏𝑖𝑎𝑠 (𝜙, 𝜆) + EWH 𝑠𝑖𝑛 (𝜙, 𝜆) sin ( 𝑡) + EWH 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (𝜙, 𝜆) cos ( 𝑡) (5.0)
𝑎 𝑎

The annual phase and amplitude signals can be derived using:

𝐴𝐸𝑊𝐻 (𝜙, 𝜆) = √EWH 𝑠𝑖𝑛 (𝜙, 𝜆)2 + EWH 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (𝜙, 𝜆)2 (5.1)

𝐸𝑊𝐻 (𝜙,𝜆)
𝜑𝐸𝑊𝐻 (𝜙, 𝜆) = tan−1 𝐸𝑊𝐻𝑠𝑖𝑛 (𝜙,𝜆) (5.2)
𝑐𝑜𝑠

The derived gridded EWH signals, the estimated bias and the estimated annual signals (equ. 1), are further
gridded with 0.25° spacing for each signal content respectively. From the gridded cells the Amplitude and
the phase signals have been derived according to equation (5.2) and (5.3).

III. RESULTS
Unfortunately, there are no in-situ terrestrial gravity data in the Amazon basin available that show the
temporal variations caused by the hydrological mass change signals for validation. In addition, river level
stations cover only a small fraction of the Amazon basin. A new tool which has been used to evaluate river
level changes is given by inland water altimetry (section IV-A). In addition, global hydrological models
assimilate water levels based on precipitation and river run-off data (section IV-B). First we show results
derived by satellite gravity data only where we later on both techniques are used to validate derived EWH
signals.

A. Satellite gravimetry
Figure 3.0 shows the annual amplitude and the annual phase signal for the EWH signals derived from a
GRACE only solution using equation (3.0), applying a Gaussian filter of 300 km spatial width.

Figure 3.0: (left) Annual amplitude derived from filtered GRACE solutions (right) Annual phase signal
derived from GRACE solutions applying 300km Gaussian filtering.
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In addition, applying a more spatially focussed filter, here a Gaussian filter with 150 km width the signal is
becoming distorted and the solution shows the severe GRACE stripes which come from the degradation of
the sectorial coefficients in the gravity field analysis process typically for GRACE KBR data.

Figure 4.0: (left) Annual amplitude derived from filtered GRACE solutions (right) Annual phase signal
derived from GRACE solutions applying 150 km Gaussian filtering.

Applying the procedure as stated in section II, the derived spherical harmonic coefficient set of the
combined GRACE and GOCE gravity gradient signals result in the annual signals shown in Figure 5.0.

Figure 5.0: (left) Annual amplitude derived from combined GRACE/GOCE solutions (right) Annual phase
signal derived from the combined GRACE/GOCE solutions applying a 150 km Gaussian filter.

The derived GRACE/GOCE annual periodic EWH amplitude signal does show less stripes as compared to
the GRACE solution applying a similar filtering which can be attributed to the isotropy of GOCE gravity
gradients. The signal is in amplitude a factor of three larger compared to the filtered GRACE equivalent.
Due to larger noise the phase information gets distorted but in areas where also the retrieved signal is large,
the phase information intends to agree with the phase information derived from the filtered GRACE
solution (Figure 3.0 and Figure 4.0).
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The GRACE only and the GRACE/GOCE combined solution do show an annual mass change located at
the central amazon basin. The largest mass change thereby takes place at the area of Manaus.

B. Multi-Mission Altimetry (DAHITI)

For validation of our results from GRACE and GOCE, water level time series from DAHITI in the Amazon
basin along the Amazon river and its tributaries are used. The seasonal variations of the water levels can
vary up to 10-15 m in the Amazon basin. In summary, 56 data sets (43 Envisat/SARAL/AltiKa, 13 Jason-2)
are used for validation. Hereby, the time series are evaluated by estimating annual periodic signals covering
the same time period as for the GRACE/GOCE mission. Therefore, the temporal samples are fitted using
an annual sine and cosine signal, where according to equation 5.1 and 5.2 the amplitudes and phase signals
have been derived for each individual local altimeter spot. The estimation of amplitudes and phase enables
us getting seasonal variations and mass distribution in the Amazon basin from altimetry.

Figure 6.0: (left) Annual amplitude derived from multi-mission altimetry (right) annual phase signal
derived from multi-mission altimetry.

From Figure 6.0 it can be indicated that the largest EWH changes take place in the central area of the
Amazon Basin. The maximum amplitude of the annual signal is reaching here almost 8 meter in total.
Moreover, it can be stated that towards east, close to the coast large mountains and steep topography is
present. The Amazon river is here enclosed in the area of Santarem. The big dots in Figure 6.0 indicate here
a continuous data series over a four-year period of river level data and the small dots indicate the mission
data where only half a year in 2010 and half a year data at 2013 was available.

We also derived the semi-annual EWH signal for the Amazon river. From Figure 7.0 it can be seen that in
the central area of Manaus the river shows also a semi-annual periodic signal because here the northern and
the southern river system join where both systems show a phase shift of approximately half a year.
Moreover, it can be indicated that the signal amplitudes are much smaller amounting to a maximum signal
of 1.5 meter. The semi-annual signal is largest in the central Amazon basin while further to the east the
signal amplitude becomes severe smaller. This may be attributed to a compensation of the water masses
resulting in floods and storage of water masses in the central Amazon Basin.
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Figure 7.0: (left) Semi-annual amplitude derived from multi-mission Altimetry (right) Semi-annual phase
signal derived from multi-mission altimetry.

C. Hydrological models
We use two different global hydrological models the GLDAS model (Rodell et al. 2004) and the WGHM
model (Werth and Güntner 2010). Both model use satellite- and ground-based observational data products,
applied to advanced land surface modeling and data assimilation techniques. The GLDAS model runs on a
0.25-degree grid with surface soil moisture estimates down to 2040 cm layer depth. The WGHM model
makes use of around ten layers where canopy and snow coverage is included.

We sum up all compartments of both models to derive a density change at Earth’s surface and to derive
spherical harmonic coefficients which further have been transferred to annual EWH amplitudes and phases,
given by equation 3.0. Figure 8.0 show the derived Amplitude and phase quantities for the GLDAS and
Figure 9.0 show the derived functionals for the WGHM model.

Figure 8.0: (left) Annual amplitude derived from the GLDAS model (right) Annual phase signal derived
from the GLDAS model.
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Figure 9.0: (left) Annual amplitude derived from the WGHM model (right) Annual phase signal derived
from the WGHM model.

IV. CONCLUSION
An annual hydrological mass change is taken place in the Amazon basin which affects Earth’s gravity field
at small scales. These changes have been mapped in terms of satellite gravimetry, inland altimetry data and
hydrological model data. The Signal is focussed and large in amplitude which is most important to be
sensitive by GOCE gravity gradiometry.

GOCE gravity gradients suffer from long-periodic noise which makes it difficult to directly map the annual
signals. Therefore, we make use of GRACE monthly solutions which we combine with the GOCE
accurately measured gravity gradients in the spectral domain of gradiometer along-track measurements.
Further, we apply a local estimation of sinusoidal gravity gradient signal which are down-ward continued
using spherical harmonic series expansion and transferred to EWH which is being expressed in annual
amplitude and phase signals.

We can state the retrieved EWH changes from the GRACE/GOCE combined change shows larger
amplitudes as compared to the GRACE filtered solutions. Filtering the GRACE solution with a comparable
resolution to the GRACE/GOCE combination shows that the GRACE solutions are strongly affected by
sectorial noise. This has been lowered in the GRACE/GOCE combined solution because of isotropic
behaviour of GOCE gradiometry data.

When we compare the GRACE/GOCE combined annual EWH change with the derived annual levels from
inland altimetry, we clearly see an amplitude difference of a factor of 4 which is attributed to the spatial
omission of signal content and involved filtering. However, the spatial mapping of the different annual
levels does show agreement with the GRACE signals but also with the combined GRACE/GOCE solution.
This leads to the conclusion that inland altimetry is an adequate tool for monitoring annual mass changes in
rivers and lakes of the amazon basin. The phase information is in agreement between GRACE and
altimetry. The Phase of the GRACE/GOCE combined solution is distorted because the overall noise level
of the GOCE solution is also higher. Only in areas where a strong amplitude signal is present the phase
information intends to show similar values as given by the GRACE solution.

For modelled data of GLDAS a difference to the derived EWH from GRACE and GOCE/GRACE is
present due to the fact that surface water is not included in the modelling of GLDAS. Modelling these mass
changes accurately by WGHM may be difficult because of unknown storage rates in canopy covered areas,
missing terrain information due to strong canopy coverage in the amazon forest and changing river swath
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over deep forests and flooding areas. This may be confirmed by the semi-annular river level amplitudes
derived from altimetry, where the largest signal is taking place at the Manaus region and not at the easterly
located coastal areas. Either GRACE, GOCE or altimetry do state a larger mass change signal at the coastal
areas in contrast to the WGHM model. The large mass change signal of WGHM at the coast may be
attributed to the cumulative error along the river propagation.

We showed that GOCE gradiometry is capable to detect the very focussed annual mass change signal in the
Amazon basin. However, the annual signal is close to the GOCE gravity gradient sensitivity evaluated in a
two years’ period. But between the GRACE only and the GRACE/GOCE combined solution there are
agreements in the derived zonal information. Thus it is worth to study whether the sectorial filtering of
GRACE monthly can be revised evaluating GRACE information at improved spatial scales.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The GOCE+ Water Storage study was sponsored by the European Space Agency (ESA) as part of the
Support to Science Element (STSE) under contract 4000115218/15/I-LG.
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