Seeing Precipitation From Space
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- Written by:
- Ellen T. Gray
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- Scientific consulting by:
- Chris Kidd,
- Dalia B Kirschbaum, and
- Gail Skofronick Jackson
- View full credits
An extratropical cyclone spun across the North Pacific near Japan on March 10, 2014. The cyclone became the first storm imaged by NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, launched eleven days earlier. The two instruments aboard the satellite are tuned in to different types of precipitation—rain, snow, and any mixture of the two, letting scientists see exactly where each is falling inside a storm. This kind of detail is important for understanding how storms behave and how the water essential to life moves around the planet. Watch the video to learn more about the satellite and how it observes our watery world.
For More Information
See NASA.gov
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
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Animators
- Alex Kekesi (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
- Ernie Wright (USRA)
- Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC)
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Writer
- Ellen T. Gray (NASA/HQ) [Lead]
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Video editor
- Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Scientists
- Chris Kidd (University of Maryland) [Lead]
- Dalia B Kirschbaum (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
- Gail Skofronick Jackson (NASA/GSFC) [Lead]
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Producers
- Rani Gran (NASA/GSFC)
- Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Narration
- Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Narrator
- Dan Gallagher (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
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Project support
- Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
- Jesse Allen (SSAI)
- John M. Kwiatkowski (George Mason University)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
- Robert Simmon (Sigma Space Corporation)
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ID: 4153 Visualization
GPM/GMI First Light
Read moreEleven days after the Feb. 27 launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, the two instruments aboard took their first joint images of an interesting precipitation event. On March 10, the Core Observatory passed over an extra-tropical cyclone about 1055 miles (1700 kilometers) due east of Japan's Honshu Island. The storm formed from the collision of a cold front wrapping around a warm front, emerging over the ocean near Okinawa on March 8. It moved northeast over the ocean south of Japan, drawing cold air west-to-east over the land, a typical winter weather pattern that also brought heavy snow over Hokkaido, the northernmost of the four main islands. After the GPM images were taken, the storm continued to move eastward, slowly intensifying before weakening in the central North Pacific.This visualization shows data from the GPM Microwave Imager, which observes different types of precipitation with 13 channels. Scientists analyze that data and then use it to calculate the light to heavy rain rates and falling snow within the storm.For more information on this topic: GPM web siteOther multimedia items related to this story: GPM GMI First Light (#11508) GPM DPR First Light (#11509) ||
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ID: 11508 Produced Video
GPM GMI First Light
Read moreOn March 10, the Core Observatory passed over an extra-tropical cyclone about 1055 miles (1700 kilometers) due east of Japan's Honshu Island. This visualization shows data from the GPM Microwave Imager, which observes different types of precipitation with 13 channels. Scientists analyze that data and then use it to calculate the light to heavy rain rates and falling snow within the storm. ||
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ID: 11509 Produced Video
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