September 28, 2014

Areas in West Antarctica where the force of gravity dips following ice melt (Image DGFI/Planetary Visions)

The mission of ESA’s GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer) satellite ended last year but as always in these cases the data it gathered keep on being analyzed. In this case, the very accurate measurements of gravity variations on the surface of the Earth have also allowed to analyze the melting of ice in Antarctica in recent years.