GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) mascon (mass concentration) solutions are widely used in cryosphere science and hydrology research. Mascon solutions have been demonstrated to perform analogous to or better than spherical harmonic (SH) solutions at the basin scale. Although the mascon solutions are expected to facilitate an improved local recovery of seismic gravity signals of large earthquakes, the application of mascon solutions to earthquake analysis remains to be investigated. In this study, we examine the performance of the mascon solutions for seismic gravity signals induced by three M9 class (2011 Tohoku‐Oki, 2004 Sumatra, and 2010 Chile) and three smaller earthquakes and compare them with SH solutions and theoretical gravity changes modeled according to the dislocation theory. We analyze the coseismic and postseismic gravity changes and conclude that the mascon solutions contain information almost identical to the SH solutions and retrieve coseismic gravity change signals with resolutions equivalent to Gaussian filter radii of 210–270 km. The mascon solutions have strengthened gravity change signals of approximately twice the strength of the SH solutions. However, mascon solution cannot fully recover the complete seismic deformation since it is still a spatially “band‐limited” data set that uses the spatial smoothing in the aggressive regularization. We found that the mascon solutions contain “seismic‐like” gravity change signals several months before the Tohoku‐Oki and Chile earthquakes occurred.

The deposition of land sediments onto the broad continental shelf of the East China Sea (ECS) is controlled by complex, dynamic hydrological mechanisms. In this study, we apply the data from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite to detect the gravity signal caused by changes in sedimentation. The GRACE‐observed gravity signal is separated into the individual contributions using multi‐source data. After correction of each known individual signal, the sediment‐caused gravity change signal is used to invert for the sediment mass change in the ECS using a space domain inverse method. The results indicate that the total GRACE‐inverted sediment deposition rate was 0.82±0.3 Gt/yr from 2005 to 2015, which is in agreement with in‐situ sediment observations. The seasonal sediment change is also calculated and discussed. It is caused by sediment transport between the ECS and the Yellow Sea.

Water resources are important for agricultural, industrial, and urban development. In this paper, we analyzed the influence of rainfall and snowfall on variations in terrestrial water storage (TWS) in Northeast China from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) gravity satellite data, GlobSnow snow water equivalent product, and ERA5-land monthly total precipitation, snowfall, and snow depth data. This study revealed the main composition and variation characteristics of TWS in Northeast China. We found that GRACE provided an effective method for monitoring large areas of stable seasonal snow cover and variations in TWS in Northeast China at both seasonal and interannual scales. On the seasonal scale, although summer rainfall was 10 times greater than winter snowfall, the terrestrial water storage in Northeast China peaked in winter, and summer rainfall brought about only a sub-peak, 1 month later than the maximum rainfall. On the interannual scale, TWS in Northeast China was controlled by rainfall. The correlation analysis results revealed that the annual fluctuations of TWS and rainfall in Northeast China appear to be influenced by ENSO (EI Niño–Southern Oscillation) events with a lag of 2–3 years. In addition, this study proposed a reconstruction model for the interannual variation in TWS in Northeast China from 2003 to 2016 on the basis of the contemporary terrestrial water storage and rainfall data.

Calcific tendinopathy (CT) is defined by the progressive accumulation of calcium crystals in tendonic regions that results in severe pain in patients. The etiology of CT is not fully elucidated. In this study, we elucidate the role of PPP1R3A in CT. A significant decrease in PPP1R3A expression was observed in CT patient tissues, which was further confirmed in tissues from a CT-induced rat model. Overexpression of PPP1R3A ex vivo reduced the expression of osteo/chondrogenic markers OCN and Sox9, improved tendon tissue architecture, and reduced intracellular Ca2+ levels. Overexpression of SERCA2 and knockdown of Piezo1 decreased expression of osteo/chondrogenic markers and intracellular calcium in PPP1R3A-knockdown tendon cells. Lastly, PPP1R3A expression was regulated at the posttranscriptional level by binding of HuR. Collectively, the present study indicates that PPP1R3A plays an important role in regulating calcium homeostasis in tendon cells via Piezo1/SERCA2, rendering it a promising target for therapeutic interventions of CT.

As reported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the world has been greening over the last two decades, with the highest greening occurring in China and India. The increasing vegetation will increase plant tissue accumulation and water storage capacity, and all of these variations will cause mass change. In this study, we found that the mass change related to greening in Southern China could be confirmed by Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) observations. The mean mass change rate detected by GRACE is 6.7 ± 0.8 mm/yr in equivalent water height during 2003–2016 in our study region. This is consistent with the sum of vegetation tissue, soil water and groundwater change calculated using multi-source data. The vegetation accumulation is approximately 3.8 ± 1.3 mm/yr, which is the major contribution to region mass change. We also found that the change of water storage capacity related to vegetation can be detected by GRACE.