+ Visit NASA.gov + Advanced Search   + About the Server   + Animation List   + How to Use the Server Previous Animation Next Animation NASA Scientists Research Global Precipitation The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) is an element of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) of the World Climate Research program (WCRP). It was established by the WCRP in 1986 with the initial goal of providing monthly mean precipitation data on a 2.5°× 2.5°latitude -longitude grid. Monthly mean precipitation estimates are being produced beginning in 1979 and planned to go through 2005. The GPCP has accomplished this by merging infrared and microwave satellite estimates of precipitation with rain gauge data from more than 6,000 stations. Infrared precipitation estimates are obtained from GOES (United States), GMS (Japan) and Meteosat (European Community) geostationary satellites and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operational polar orbiting satellites. Microwave estimates are obtained from the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites using the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I). These data sets will be used to validate general circulation and climate models, study the global hydrological cycle and diagnose the variability of the global climate system. Data sets have been expanded so that in addition to the monthly mean product available, the GPCP now has a 2.5°×2.5° degree pentad data set starting in 1979 and a 1°×1° daily data set starting in 1997.    This animation cycles through the twelve months of a year and then repeats the cycle ten times. Duration: 20.0 seconds Available formats:   2560 x 1920 TIFF         3 MB   320 x 240     PNG           246 KB   160 x 80       PNG           65 KB   80 x 40         PNG           17 KB   1280x720 (29.97 fps) MPEG-4   4 MB   512x288 (30 fps) MPEG-1   3 MB   1280x720 (60 fps) Frames How to play our movies    February monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 246 KB    March monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 244 KB    April monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 242 KB    May monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 242 KB    June monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 242 KB    July monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 242 KB    August monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 243 KB    September monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 244 KB    October monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 245 KB    November monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 245 KB    December monthly rainfall Available formats:   2560 x 1920     TIFF 3 MB   320 x 240         PNG 246 KB    Colorbar Available formats:   320 x 90           PNG   8 KB Animation Number: 3461 Animator: Lori Perkins (Lead) Studio: SVS Completed: 2007-09-14 Scientists: Scott Braun (NASA/GSFC)   David Bolvin (NASA/GSFC) Instrument: TRMM/3B4XRT Data set: GPCP Combined Precipitation Data Set Data Collected: 2005/08/23 - 2005/08/31 Keywords: DLESE >> Atmospheric science SVS >> HDTV DLESE >> Natural hazards GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Climate Indicators GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Phenomena >> Hurricanes GCMD >> EARTH SCIENCE >> Human Dimensions >> Natural Hazards >> Meteorological Hazards     Please give credit for this visualization to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Hal Pierce, Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) NOAA Satellite and Information Service National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) National Climatic Data Center http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/wmo/wdcamet-ncdc.html Back to Top + Privacy Policy and Important Notices + Reproduction Guidelines NASA Official: SVS Contact: Curator: