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.

The GOCE satellite was launched on March 17, 2009 with the aim to create the most accurate gravitational map of the Earth by measuring the variations in the gravitational field of the planet on its entire surface. GOCE fell down into the atmosphere on November 11, 2013 after the depletion of its fuel, almost a year after completing its original mission.

Three years ago, ESA’s scientists had created a geoid, a map of the Earth’s gravity, that was very accurate. Subsequently, the map was improved thanks to the further data but from the beginning one of the purposes of the mission was also to estimate the thickness of the polar ice caps.

Recently, the measurements taken by GOCE between November 2009 and June 2012 were analyzed by scientists rom the German Geodetic Research Institute, Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, the Jet Propulsion Lab in USA and the Technical University of Munich in Germany. The results were even more precise than expected.

To make an exhaustive analysis, the data collected by GOCE were put together with those obtained from another satellite, GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment), a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. GRACE was launched on March 17, 2002 with similar aims as GOCE although coarser precision.

GRACE and GOCE’s measurements show a decrease in the force of gravity in various areas of Antarctica over the years following the melting of the ice. The analyzes of the data allowed to understand the effects of this phenomenon in the various areas of Antarctica. A comprehensive analysis is also possible using the data provided by the satellite CryoSat-2, which is specifically intended to keep under observation the polar ice caps.

This analysis of data collected by GOCE and the inclusion of data collected by GRACE are an innovative way to analyze the changes taking place in Antarctica. It allows to study this phenomenon in more detail, thus getting more information on the evolution of the climate.

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