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We present local time-series of the magnetic field gradient tensor elements at satellite altitude derived using a Geomagnetic Virtual Observatory (GVO) approach. Gradient element timeseries are computed in 4-monthly bins on an approximately equal-area distributed worldwide network. This enables global investigations of spatio temporal variations in the gradient tensor elements. Series are derived from data collected by the Swarm and CHAMP satellite missions, using vector field measurements and their along-track and east-west differences, when available. We find evidence for a regional secular variation impulse (jerk) event in 2017 in the first time derivative of the gradient tensor elements. This event is located at low latitudes in the Pacific region. It has a similar profile and amplitude regardless of the adopted data selection criteria and is well fit by an internal potential field. Spherical harmonic models of the internal magnetic field built from the GVO gradient series show lower scatter in near-zonal harmonics compared with models built using standard GVO vector field series. The GVO gradient element series are an effective means of compressing the spatio temporal information gathered by low-Earth orbit satellites on geomagnetic field variations, which may prove useful for core flow inversions and in geodynamo data assimilation studies.