Mass Change (MC)

Overview

NASA has begun planning for the implementation of the recommendations National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) 2017 Decadal Survey, “Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observations from Space” by conducting observing system architecture studies. Mass change is identified as a Designated Observable, and the decadal survey recommends a mass change mission to continue the observational record of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) missions.

In response to guidance for multi-center study plans issued by NASA in June 2018, the NASA’s Ames Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (lead) and Langley Research Center submitted a joint study plan to the NASA Earth Science Division for the Mass Change Measurement System.

The mass change study has three main objectives, namely:

Identify and characterize a diverse set of high-value mass change observing architectures responsive to the decadal strategy report’s scientific and application objectives for mass change.
Assess the cost effectiveness of each of the studied architectures.
Perform sufficient in-depth design of one or two select architectures to enable rapid initiation of a phase-A study.

To accomplish these objectives, the study team, which also includes NASA Headquarters, will harness expertise and information from across the Earth science spectrum of research, applications, technology, mission formulation and implementation, as well as across the major stakeholder organizations in government (NASA and non-NASA), academia and industry.

Current Science and Applications Traceability Matrix (SATM)

The Mass Change Study Team has released the final version of the Science and Applications Traceability Matrix.

Presentations and Other Materials

How to Join the MC Working Group

Send email to [email protected]. Someone from MC will coordinate whether requester should be added to working group.

Related Events

MCDO Phase 2 Community Telecon

The Mass Change Designated Observable (MCDO) study will host a community telecon the third week of April. To accommodate multiple time zones as well as offer some flexibility, we will brief the same material at two different times. If interested in participating, you only need to attend one of the meetings.

Monday, April 13, 11AM – 12PM (EDT)
Friday, April 17, 2PM – 3PM (EDT)

The purpose of the telecon will be to provide a status update to the community on recent progress made by the Mass Change Designated Observable Study team as well as address any questions. Topics to be covered will be a discussion on the observing systems being considered, methods for determining science value, and an overview of the value framework that is being used to score the overall value of each observing system. Preliminary results will be shown.

If you would like to attend, please e-mail [email protected]

Dec. 12, 2019: Mass Change Designated Observables Study Town Hall, 2019 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco

The Mass Change study team will host a Mass Change Designated Observables Study Town Hall at the AGU 2019 Fall Meeting on Thursday, Dec. 12, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. (PT). Details are available on the AGU website.

July 30-Aug. 1, 2019: MC Study Community Workshop (Agenda) (Report)

The MC Study will hold three community telecons, separated by scientific discipline, focused on the further refinement of the Mass Change Designated Observable Science and Applications Traceability Matrix. If you would like to attend any of the scheduled telecons, please send an e-mail requesting an invitation. The schedule is as follows:

Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. EST: Earth Surface and Interior
Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. EST: Global Hydrological Cycle and Water Resources
Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. EST: Climate Variability and Change

Mass Change Applications Survey