Seeing Precipitation From Space

  • Released Tuesday, April 1st, 2014
  • Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:51PM
  • ID: 11470

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.

Measurements collected by the satellite can be used to calculate rain rates and snowfall for storms observed around the world.

Measurements collected by the satellite can be used to calculate rain rates and snowfall for storms observed around the world.

For More Information

See NASA.gov



Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio