Instagram: Why Do Raindrop Sizes Matter In Storms?
-
- Produced by:
- Joy Ng
- View full credits
Not all raindrops are created equal. The size of falling raindrops depends on several factors, including where the cloud producing the drops is located on the globe and where the drops originate in the cloud. For the first time, scientists have three-dimensional snapshots of raindrops and snowflakes around the world from space, thanks to the joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. With the new global data on raindrop and snowflake sizes this mission provides, scientists can improve rainfall estimates from satellite data and in numerical weather forecast models, helping us better understand and prepare for extreme weather events.
For More Information
See NASA.gov Article
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Music credit: Dusk On The Plains by B. Boston
-
Animators
- Joy Ng (KBRwyle)
- Krystofer Kim (KBRwyle)
- Michael Lentz (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
-
Writer
- Kasha Patel (Wyle Information Systems)
-
Scientists
- Chris Kidd (University of Maryland)
- Dalia B Kirschbaum (NASA/GSFC)
- Gail Skofronick Jackson (NASA/GSFC)
- George Huffman (NASA/GSFC)
-
Interviewee
- Stephen J. Munchak (University of Maryland)
-
Producers
- Joy Ng (KBRwyle) [Lead]
- Ryan Fitzgibbons (KBR Wyle Services, LLC)
-
Support
- Rani Gran (NASA/GSFC)
Missions
This visualization is related to the following missions:Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Related pages
-
-
ID: 12182 Produced Video
Why Do Raindrop Sizes Matter In Storms?
Read moreNot all raindrops are created equal. The size of falling raindrops depends on several factors, including where the cloud producing the drops is located on the globe and where the drops originate in the cloud. For the first time, scientists have three-dimensional snapshots of raindrops and snowflakes around the world from space, thanks to the joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. With the new global data on raindrop and snowflake sizes this mission provides, scientists can improve rainfall estimates from satellite data and in numerical weather forecast models, helping us better understand and prepare for extreme weather events.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube Channel. ||
-
ID: 4369 Visualization
Painting the World with Water (New Colorbar)
Read moreAn animation depicting the build-up of precipitation data on a flat map from the Global Precipitation Measurement constellation of satellites, resulting in the IMERG global precipitation data set.This video is also available on our YouTube channel. || The ten currently-flying satellites in the Global Precipitation Measurement Constellation provide unprecedented information about the rain and snow across the entire Earth. This visualization shows the constellation in action, taking precipitation measurements underneath the satellite orbits. As time progresses and the Earth's surface is covered with measurements, the structure of the Earth's preciptation becomes clearer, from the constant rainfall patterns along the Equator to the storm fronts in the mid-latitudes. The dynamic nature of the precipitation is revealed as time speeds up and the satellite data swaths merge into a continuous visualization of changing rain and snowfall. Finally, the video fades into an visualization of IMERG, the newly available data set of global precipitation every thirty minutes that is derived from this satellite data.This is a newer version of the animation and uses a modified version of the Liquid Precipitation Rate colorbar. This newer colorbar improves the display of higher rain rates. ||
-
ID: 11392 Produced Video
GPM Core Spacecraft Beauty Passes
Read moreA variety of animated beauty passes of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core spacecraft. || Various beauty passes of the GPM Core spacecraft. || The GPM Core satellite cruises over a hurricane. ||
-