IGCP 565 Project: Developing the Global Geodetic Observing System into a monitoring system for the global water cycle

Geodetic observations of the Earth’s gravity field, shape, and rotation and their changes in time (the three fundamental areas of geodesy)capture the signals of variation in the entire fluid envelope of the solid Earth, including the terrestrial water storage. Therefore, the Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) has the capability to monitor mass transport particularly in the global water cycle. The IGCP 565 Project aims to utilize this potential and to develop GGOS into a monitoring system for the hydrological cycle on global to regional scales. Key scientific issues addressed are: (1) Development of an integrated dynamic model for the predictions of the geodetic signals of daily to interannual surface mass changes, (2) Inversion algorithms for integrated geodetic observations for surface mass changes; (3) Assimiltion of observed surface mass changes in hydrological models; and (4) Development of products relevant for regional water management. The project supports capacity building in space-geodetic data processing, modeling of the hydrological cycle, and interpretation of the observations in terms of terrestrial water storage. A focus is on products for regional water management, particularly in developing countries. Coordination of the research and capacity building is provided through a series of five annual workshops.