Tracking Seasonal Changes in Earth's Water Cycle

GRACE is able to track the movement of water on or beneath Earth's surface, including seasonal fluctuations in Earth's water cycle. Here, GRACE data show the distribution of water over South America in January 2004. By tracking the month-to-month changes in the distribution of water mass over time and comparing it with data from other NASA satellites, scientists are able to monitor and measure the complete cycle of water movement for the continent. Red signifies higher water mass, while blue signifies lower water mass.

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