Global Precipitation Measurement

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is an international network of satellites that provide the next-generation global observations of rain and snow. Building upon the success of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the GPM concept centers on the deployment of a "Core" satellite carrying an advanced radar / radiometer system to measure precipitation from space and serve as a reference standard to unify precipitation measurements from a constellation of research and operational satellites. Through improved measurements of precipitation globally, the GPM mission will help to advance our understanding of Earth's water and energy cycle, improve forecasting of extreme events that cause natural hazards and disasters, and extend current capabilities in using accurate and timely information of precipitation to directly benefit society. GPM, initiated by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as a global successor to TRMM, comprises a consortium of international space agencies, including the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and others. The GPM Core Observatory launched from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, at 1:37 PM EST on February 27, 2014.

For more information and resources please visit the Precipitation Measurement Missions web site.

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Near Real-Time IMERG

The global IMERG precipitation dataset provides rainfall rates for the entire world every thirty minutes.
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    Near Real-Time Global Precipitation
    2015.03.31
    The global IMERG precipitation dataset provides rainfall rates for the entire world every thirty minutes. This remarkable dataset is created by combining precipitation measurements from 10 international satellites: GPM, TRMM, GCOM-W1, NOAA-18, NOAA-19, DMSP F-16, DMSP F-17, DMSP F-18, Metop-A, and Metop-B Although the process to create the combined dataset is intensive, the Global Precipitation Measurement team creates a preliminary, near real-time data set of precipitation within about a day of data acquisition. The animation on this page shows the most recent week or so of that preliminary data.

2018 Hurricanes & Typhoons

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    GPM Satellite observes powerful super Typhoon Yutu hitting Northern Marianas
    2018.10.26
    NASA's GPM Core observatory satellite captured an image of Super Typhoon Yutu when it flew over the powerful storm just as the center was striking the central Northern Mariana Islands north of Guam. Early Thursday, Oct. 25 local time, Super Typhoon Yutu crossed over the U.S. commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It was the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. The National Weather Service in Guam said it was the strongest storm to hit any part of the U.S. this year. The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite, which is managed by both NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA analyzed Yutu on Oct. 24 at 11:07 a.m. EDT (1507 UTC)/ 1:07 a.m. Guam Time, Oct. 25. GPM estimated rain rates within Super Typhoon Yutu fusing data from two instruments aboard: the GPM Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar or DPR, which covered the inner part of the storm, and the GPM Microwave Imager or GMI that analyzed the outer swath, just as the center was passing over the Island of Tinian. GPM shows the inner eyewall as a near perfect ring of heavy to intense rain. Peak rain rates of up to 269 mm/hr. (~10.6 inches/hr.) were estimated within the DPR swath. The almost perfect symmetry of the inner wall is indicative of an extremely powerful storm. In fact, at the time this image was taken, Yutu's maximum sustained winds were estimated at 155 knots (~178 mph) by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, making it the strongest typhoon on record to strike Saipan and Tinian. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM Captures Super Typhoon Mangkhut Approaching The Philippines
    2018.09.19
    At nearly the same time that the US East Coast was experiencing the arrival of Hurricane Florence, a much more powerful storm was also arriving half a world away in the Philippines—Super Typhoon Mangkhut. While the slow-moving Florence arrived as a Category 1 hurricane that brought record flooding to the Carolinas, less than 7 hours later Mangkhut (known as Ompong in the Philippines) made landfall on the northern main island of Luzon as a full on Category 5 super typhoon with sustained winds reported at 165 mph. The visualization starts with a view of Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) precipitation rates from 15:11 UTC (11:11 pm PST) 12 September to 15:41 UTC (11:41 pm PST) 13 September 2018 as the storm was making its way across the Philippine Sea headed for Luzon. Before entering the Philippine Sea, Mangkhut passed just north of Guam on the evening of the 10th as a Category 2 typhoon with sustained winds reported at 105 mph by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) causing widespread power outages. The next day on the 11th as it entered the eastern Philippine Sea, Mangkhut underwent a rapid intensification cycle wherein the storm’s intensity shot from Category 2 on the afternoon of the 10th (local time) to Category 5 with sustained winds estimated at 160 mph by JTWC by the evening of the 11th (local time). Mangkhut is estimated to have reached its peak intensity at 18:00 UTC on the 12th (2:00 am PST 13 September) with maximum sustained winds estimated at 180 mph by JTWC, making it the strongest tropical cyclone of the year thus far. At the start of the visualization, Mangkhut was an extremely powerful Category 5 super typhoon and just approaching its peak intensity. Over the next 24 hours, Mangkhut’s intensity leveled out such that when the GPM core satellite over flew the storm, Mangkhut’s peak intensity was estimated at 165 mph, a still very powerful Category 5 storm. The end of the visualization shows the surface rainfall within Mangkhut as well as a 3D flyby of the storm courtesy of the GPM core satellite, which passed over the storm at around 15:40 UTC (11:40 pm PST) on the 13th. At the surface, a distinct eye is present surrounded by a large area of very heavy to intense rain (shown in dark red and magenta). Further out, heavy rain bands are rotating counter clockwise around the storm’s center. The flyby shows a 3D rendering of the radar structure of Mangkhut using data collected from GPM’s Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar or DPR. At the heart of the storm surrounding the eye is a ring of elevated echo tops associated with Mangkhut’s eyewall. The strong symmetry and continuity of the ring is consistent with an intense tropical cyclone and suggests no inhibiting effects such as dry air or wind shear are affecting the storm. In fact, after these images were taken, Mangkhut would continue on to strike the northern part of Luzon at the same estimated intensity, becoming the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines since Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. So far the storm is being blamed for at least 95 fatalities in the Philippines, many due to a large landslide around the town of Itogon. After crossing Luzon, Mangkhut continued on to strike Hong Kong with winds reported at 121 mph before dissipating over mainland China, where it is being blamed for 6 fatalities. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GOES and GPM Capture Florence Trying to Intensify Over the Atlantic
    2018.09.12
    Hurricane Florence originally formed from an African Easterly wave that emerged off the west coast of Africa back on the 30th of August. When it reached the vicinity of the Cape Verde Islands the next day, it was organized enough to become a tropical depression. The following day the depression strengthened enough to become a tropical storm and Florence was born on the 1st of September. Over the next 3 days, Florence gradually strengthened as it moved in a general west-northwest direction into the central Atlantic. Then, on the 4th of September, Florence began to rapidly intensify. By the morning of the 5th, Florence was a Category 3 hurricane before reaching Category 4 intensity later that afternoon with maximum sustained winds estimated at 130 mph by the National Hurricane Center (NHC). At this point, Florence became the victim of increasingly strong southwesterly wind shear, which greatly weakened the storm all the way back down to a tropical storm the by evening of the 6th. The following GOES-East Infrared (IR) loop shows Florence from 17:54 UTC (1:54 pm EDT) 6 September to 19:27 UTC (3:27 pm EDT) 7 September when it was struggling against the strong southwesterly wind shear in the Central Atlantic. A very interesting looking feature is the arc-shaped cloud that propagates outward from the storm towards the west. This cloud feature is occurring at upper-levels and is likely tied to a gravity wave propagating outward from an area of intense convection that erupted from deep within the storm. When the tops of these smaller scale storms within a storm reach the upper troposphere, they can trigger gravity waves. As these waves progagate outward they can enhance cloud formation where they induce rising motion and erode cloud where they induce downward motion or subsidence. As this arc-shaped cloud is able to propagate outward uniformly from the center, it must be occurring above the shear layer. Compensating areas of subsidence can also surround the strong rising motion occurring within the tall convective clouds. This can help to erode surrounding clouds and may be contributing to the clearing that occurs between the arc-shaped cloud and the main area of convection. The end of the loop shows surface rainfall and a 3D flyby of Florence courtesy of the GPM core satellite, which passed over the storm at around 19:21 UTC (3:21 pm EDT) on the 7th. At the surface, two areas of intense rain (shown in magenta) reveal the presence of two areas of strong thunderstorms within Florence north and northeast of the center. The flyby shows a 3D rendering of the radar structure of the storm. The darker blue tower indicates an area of deep convection that has penetrated well over 10 km high and is associated with the southernmost area of intense rain just north of the center. It is these areas of deep convection that fuel the storm by releasing heat, known as latent heat, mainly from condensation, near the core. Although it would be nearly 2 days before Florence re-gained hurricane intensity, these convective towers are what helped Florence to survive the effects of the wind shear and eventually grow back into a Category 4 hurricane. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA. Caption by Stephen Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and Joe Munchak (GSFC). A short 360 video flying under Florence is available here:
    Look for a longer narrated 360 video flying through Hurricane Maria in the coming weeks!
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    GPM passes directly over Tropical Storm John off the coast of Mexico
    2018.08.06
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over Tropical Storm John on August 6, 2018. GPM showed that the large tropical cyclone was becoming well organized and had intense rainfall within feeder bands that were spiraling toward John's center. GPM's radar (DPR Ku Band) revealed that a band of powerful storms northeast of John's center were dropping rain at a rate of close to 160 mm (6.3 inches) per hour. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.

2017 Hurricanes & Typhoons

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    Inside Hurricane Maria in 360°
    2018.10.04
    Tour Hurricane Maria in a whole new way! Late on September 17, 2017 (10:08 p.m. EDT) Category 1 Hurricane Maria was strengthening in the Atlantic Ocean when the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over it. The Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar, measuring in a narrow band over the storm center, shows 3-D estimates of rain, with snow at higher altitudes. The tall "hot towers" characteristic of deepening hurricanes are actually topped by snow! Surface rainfall rates estimated by the GPM Microwave Imager paint the surface over a wider swath. During the tour, you'll see the radar-observed rain intensities displayed three different ways in various parts of the storm. Then, for the first time you'll see estimates of the precipitation particle sizes, which the GPM DPR is uniquely capable of showing, and which provide important insights into storm processes. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
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    GPM Catches Hurricane Nate's Landfall...Twice
    2017.10.10
    Nate made landfall over the weekend along the northern Gulf Coast as a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds reported at 85 mph (~140 kph) by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) first at 7:00pm CDT on Saturday October 7th in Louisiana near the mouth of the Mississippi River then again several hours later at 12:30 am CDT on Sunday October 8th near Buluxi, Mississippi before moving quickly moving northward through northern Alabama and central Tennessee. Because of its rapid movement, Nate did not produce the catastrophic flooding that Harvey did. However, Nate is being blamed for 2 storm-related fatalities in the US and at least 38 across Central America, most in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
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    Hurricane Tracks from 2017 with Precipitation and Cloud Data
    2017.10.05
    These visualizations show the tracks of Atlantic hurricanes during 2017. Data from the Global Precipitation Mission called IMERG is used to show rainfall and data from NOAA's GOES East shows clouds. Storm position and wind speed data from UNISYS are used to show the track lines. The numbers 1 through 5 as well as "T" are displayed when storms change categories. The "T" stands for tropical storm. There are 2 visualizations at various resoltions: - a wide Atlantic view that shows all of the hurricane tracks - a view that follows and zooms in only on Hurricane Harvey These visualizaitons were created to support NASA talks given at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in October 2017.
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    Hurricane Jose lingers in the Atlantic as Hurricane Maria approaches Puerto Rico
    2017.09.19
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission shows the rainfall distribution for two major storms churning in the Atlantic and Caribbean basins. The visualization shows Hurricane Jose as it continues to slowly move northward off the US East Coast east of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. At one time, Jose was a powerful category 4 border line category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds reported at 155 mph by the National Hurricane Center back on the 9th of September as it was approaching the northern Leeward Islands. Jose passed northeast of the Leeward Islands as a category 4 storm on a northwest track and then began to weaken due to the effects of northerly wind shear. Remaining over warm water allowed Jose to strengthen back into a hurricane on September 15th as wind shear across the storm diminished. At this time, Jose was still only midway between the central Bahamas and Bermuda, having just completed its loop, and moving to the northwest. On the 16th, Jose turned northward as it moved around the western edge of a ridge of high pressure near Bermuda and began to parallel the US East Coast well away from shore. An overpass by the GPM Core Observatory captured an image of Jose overnight at 3:36 UTC 18 September (11:36 pm EST 17 September) as the storm was moving due north at 9 mph well off shore from the coast of North Carolina. The GPM image estimated areas of very heavy rain on the order of 75 mm/hr (~3 inches per hour). The GPM Core Observatory satellite also had an excellent view of Hurricane Maria when it passed almost directly above the hurricane on September 17, 2017 at 1001 PM AST (September 18, 2017 0201 UTC). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) showed that Maria had well defined bands of precipitation rotating around the eye of the tropical cyclone. GPM's radar (DPR Ku band) found rain falling at a rate of over 6.44 inches (163.7 mm) per hour in one of these extremely powerful storms northeast of Maria's eye. Intense thunderstorms were found towering to above 9.7 miles (15.7 km). This kind of chimney cloud is also called a "hot tower" (as it releases a huge quantity of latent heat by condensation). These tall thunderstorms in the eye wall are often a sign that a tropical cyclone is becoming more powerful. Maria rapidly intensified following this view to a Category 5 storm on September 19th.
  • GPM Examines Hurricane Irma
    2017.09.10
    The GPM core observatory satellite had an exceptional view of hurricane Irma's eye when it flew above it on September 5, 2017 at 12:52 PM AST (1652 UTC). This visualization shows a rainfall analysis that was derived from GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) data. Irma was approaching the Leeward Islands with maximum sustained winds of about 178 mph (155 kts). This made Irma a dangerous category five hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Intense rainfall is shown within Irma's nearly circular eye. This 3-D cross-section through Irma's eye was constructed using GPM's radar (DPR Ku band) data. GPM's radar revealed that the heavy precipitation rotating around the eye was reaching altitudes greater than 7.75 miles (12.5 km). The tallest thunderstorms were found by GPM's radar in a feeder band that was located to the southwest of Irma's eye. These extreme storms were reaching heights of over 10.0 miles (16.2 km). Intense downpours in the eye wall were found to be returning radar reflectivity values of over 80dBZ to the GPM satellite. Irma rapidly intensified on September 4-5 as it moved over very warm waters and into an environment will weak vertical wind shear (the change of winds with height). Irma maintained maximum winds of 185 mph for a day and a half, making it one of the longest-lived storms at this intensity. That intensity made it the strongest observed storm over the Atlantic Ocean (excluding the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean). Irma’s rapid intensification was very similar to Hurricane Harvey's in the Gulf about 10 days earlier.
  • Hurricane Harvey
    2017.08.31
    The Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) Core Observatory captured these images of Hurricane Harvey at 11:45 UTC and 21:25 UTC on the 27th of August nearly two days after the storm made landfall as it was meandering slowly southeast at just 2 mph (~4 kph) near Victoria, Texas west of Houston. The image shows rain rates derived from GPM's GMI microwave imager (outer swath) and dual-frequency precipitation radar or DPR (inner swath) overlaid on enhanced infrared data from the GOES-East satellite. Harvey's cyclonic circulation is still quite evident in the infrared clouds, but GPM shows that the rainfall pattern is highly asymmetric with the bulk of the rain located north or east of the center. A broad area of moderate rain can be seen stretching from near Galveston Bay to north of Houston and back well to the west. Within this are embedded areas of heavy rain (red areas); the peak estimated rain rate from GPM during these overpasses was 96 mm/hr (~3.77 inches per hour). With Harvey's circulation still reaching out over the Gulf, the storm is able to draw in a continuous supply of warm moist air to sustain the large amount of rain it is producing.

2016 Hurricanes & Typhoons

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    NASA Studies Hurricane Matthew
    2017.07.31
    Hurricane Matthew was the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in almost ten years. Its torrential rains and winds caused significant damage and loss of life as it coursed through the Caribbean and up along the southeastern U.S. coast. Researchers use a combination of satellite observations to re-create a multi-dimensional picture of the hurricane in order to study the complex atmospheric interactions.
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    Monitoring Hurricane Matthew
    2017.01.23
    Hurricane Matthew ravaged the Caribbean and United States from late September to early October 2016. Earth observing satellites provide insights into Matthew's rapid intensification and fast decline. This show was designed for the NASA Hyperwall to be shown at the 2017 American Meteorlogical Society (AMS) Conference. The show highlight's NASA's GPM Core System that works hand-in-hand with numerous other datasets, including model runs.
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    Category 4 Hurricane Matthew on October 2, 2016
    2017.01.22
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over Hurricane Matthew as the category 4 hurricane on October 2, 2016 shortly after it downgraded from a category 5 hurricane. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM Monitors Hurricane Matthew Flooding the Carolinas
    2016.10.11
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over Hurricane Matthew as the category 2 hurricane drenched North and South Carolina with record-breaking rainfall on October 8, 2016 resulting in historical flooding throughout the Carolinas. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM Monitors Hurricane Matthew Nearing Florida
    2016.10.06
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over Hurricane Matthew several times as the category 4 storm headed toward Florida. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM Captures Hurricane Matthew Over Haiti
    2016.10.06
    On October 2nd and 3rd, 2016 NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over Hurricane Matthew. The first pass shows Matthew immediately after it became a category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph on October 2nd, 2016. The second pass shows it over Haiti on October 3rd as it buffets Haiti with sustained winds of 140 mph. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM Captures Hurricane Matthew Before Haiti Landfall
    2016.10.04
    On October 2, 2016 at approximately 4:50 a.m. EST (0950 UTC), NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over Hurricane Matthew. At that time, Matthew had maximum sustained winds of 150 mph making it a strong category 4 hurricane. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM scans Hurricane Hermine
    2016.09.20
    On September 6 at 2:06 p.m. EDT (1806 UTC), NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew above Post-Tropical Cyclone Hermine. At that time, Hermine still had maximum sustained winds of about 58 mph (50 knots). The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    Inside Cyclone Winston (February 20, 2016)
    2016.03.11
    The NASA GPM satellite passed directly over Tropical Cyclone Winston just after it made landfall on the north coast of Viti Levu Island, which is the largest and most populated island in the nation of Fiji. At the time, Winston was one of the most intense tropical cyclones observed in the South Pacific Ocean, and took an unusual track on the way to Fiji, completing a large counter-clockwise loop during the preceding week. NASA's GPM satellite is designed to measure rainfall using both passive microwave (GMI) and radar (DPR) instruments. GMI measurements are sensitive to the column-integrated rain and ice water, and cover a wide swath, whereas the DPR can observe 3D structures of radar signals reflected by rain and snow in a narrower swath. In this animation, the GMI rainfall estimates are shown at the Earth's surface below the 3D storm structure revealed by DPR.
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    Cyclone Winston Slams Fiji (February 20, 2016)
    2016.02.29
    The NASA GPM satellite passed directly over Tropical Cyclone Winston just after it made landfall on the north coast of Viti Levu Island, which is the largest and most populated island in the nation of Fiji. At the time, Winston was one of the most intense tropical cyclones observed in the South Pacific Ocean, and took an unusual track on the way to Fiji, completing a large counter-clockwise loop during the preceding week. NASA's GPM satellite is designed to measure rainfall using both passive microwave (GMI) and radar (DPR) instruments. GMI measuremensts are sensitive to the column-integrated rain and ice water, and cover a wide swath, whereas the DPR can observe 3D structures of radar signals reflected by rain and snow in a narrower swath. In this animation, the GMI rainfall estimates are shown at the earth's surface below the 3D storm structure revealed by DPR.

2015 Hurricanes & Typhoons

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    Joaquin
    2015.09.30
    Joaquin became a tropical storm on the evening (EDT) of Monday, September 28th midway between the Bahamas and Bermuda and has now formed into a hurricane, the 3rd of the season--the difference is Joaquin could impact the US East Coast. GPM captured Joaquin Tuesday, September 29th at 21:39 UTC (5:39 pm EDT) as the hurricane moved slowly towards the west-southwest about 400 miles east of the Bahamas. At the time, Joaquin had been battling northerly wind shear, which was impeding the storm's ability to strengthen. However, compared to earlier in the day, the system was beginning to gain the upper hand as the shear began to relax its grip. At the time of this data visualization, Joaquin's low-level center of circulation was located further within the cloud shield, and the rain area was beginning to wrap farther around the center on the eastern side of the storm while showing signs of increased banding and curvature, a sure sign that Joaquin's circulation was intensifying. GPM shows a large area of very intense rain with rain rates ranging from around 50 to 132 mm/hr (~2 to 5 inches, shown in shades of red) just to the right of the center. This is a strong indication that large amounts of heat are being released into the storm's center, fueling its circulation and providing the means for its intensification. Associated with the area of intense rain is an area of tall convective towers, known as a convective burst, with tops reaching up to 16.3 km. These towers when located near the storm's core are a strong indication that the storm is poised to strengthen as they too reveal the release of heat into the storm. At the time this data was taken, the National Hurricane Center reported that Joaquin's maximum sustained winds had increased to 65 mph from 40 mph earlier in the day, making Joaquin a strong tropical storm but poised to become a hurricane, which did occur on September 30th at 8:00 am EDT.
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    Tracking Kilo from Hurricane to Typhoon
    2015.09.17
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's core satellite captured Hurricane Kilo throughout its life cycle as Kilo slowly worked it's way westward across the Pacific Ocean. Kilo eventually crossed the international dateline where it officially changed from a "hurricane" to a "typhoon". Along it's way, Kilo put itself in the record books. Kilo was the 3rd named storm of the 2015 hurricane season to cross the international dateline. It was also a very long lasting storm persisting for 21 days, which made it a fairly rare event. Because it was such a long lasting storm, GPM was able to capture it several times throughout the course of it's life span. Such multiple captures of the same storm can help scientists better understand the development of hurricanes.
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    Tropical Storm Fred
    2015.09.04
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission core satellite passed over Tropical Storm Fred as it was developing in the Eastern Atlantic early August 30th and saw "hot towers" in the storm, which hinted that the storm was intensifying. Fred became the first Cape Verde hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic season when it was upgraded from a tropical storm on August 31, 2015 at 0600 UTC (2 a.m. EDT). The GPM core observatory satellite flew over on August 30, 2015 at 0236 UTC when Fred was forming from a tropical wave that moved off the African coast. Rainfall was measured by GPM's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) at the extreme rate of close to 128 mm (5.0 inches) per hour. Rainfall in towering convective storms at Fred's center of circulation were providing the energy necessary for intensification into a hurricane. Three dimensional reflectivity data from GPM's DPR showed that these "hot towers" had storm top heights reaching to 16.2 km (10.0 miles). A "hot tower" is a tall cumulonimbus cloud that reaches at least to the top of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. It extends approximately 9 miles/14.5 km high in the tropics. These towers are called "hot" because they rise to such altitude due to the large amount of latent heat. Water vapor releases this latent heat as it condenses into liquid. Those towering thunderstorms have the potential for heavy rain. NASA research shows that a tropical cyclone with a hot tower in its eyewall was twice as likely to intensify within six or more hours, than a cyclone that lacked a hot tower.
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    Tropical Storm Bill Over Texas
    2015.06.17
    Tropical Storm Bill made landfall over Texas at approximately 11:45am CST on June 16, 2015. Shortly after midnight, GPM passed over the storm as it slowly worked it's way northward across the already drenched state of Texas. This visualization shows Bill at precisely 12:11:27am CST (6:11:27 GMT) on June 17, 2015. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs. The Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar provides the three-dimensional view, showing the structure of the storm spiraling inward toward the center, with heavier rain on the north side of the storm. Shades of blue represent ice in the upper part of clouds. Viewed from the side, the stark color change from blue to green marks the transition from ice to rain. For forecasters, GPM's microwave and radar data are part of the toolbox of satellite data, including other low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, that they use to monitor tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The addition of GPM data to the current suite of satellite data is timely. Its predecessor precipitation satellite, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, after 18 years of operation was deorbited June 16 (the same day Tropical Storm Bill made landfall). GPM's new high-resolution microwave imager data and the unique radar data ensure that forecasters and modelers won't have a gap in coverage. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All GPM data products can be found at NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center.
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    GPM Examines Super Typhoon Maysak
    2015.04.08
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Satellite captured a 3-D image of Typhoon Maysak on March 30th as the storm approached the Yap Islands. The storm later intensified to a category 5-equivalent super typhoon with 150-mph sustained winds.

    The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in three dimensions.

    GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.

2014 Hurricanes & Typhoons

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    GPM Dissects Typhoon Hagupit
    2014.12.09
    On December 5, 2014 (1032 UTC) the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over Typhoon Hagupit as it headed towards the Philippines. A few hours later at 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST), Super Typhoon Hagupit's maximum sustained winds were near 130 knots (149.6 mph/241 kph), down from 150 knots (172 mph/277.8 kph). Typhoon-force winds extend out 40 nautical miles (46 miles/74 km) from the center, while tropical-storm-force winds extend out to 120 miles (138 miles/222 km). The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. For forecasters, GPM's microwave and radar data are part of the toolbox of satellite data, including other low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, that they use to monitor tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The addition of GPM data to the current suite of satellite data is timely. Its predecessor precipitation satellite, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, is 18 years into what was originally a three-year mission. GPM's new high-resolution microwave imager data and the unique radar data ensure that forecasters and modelers won't have a gap in coverage. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All GPM data products can be found at NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website http://pps.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
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    GPM Scans Typhoon Phanfone
    2014.10.07
    On October 6, 2014 (0215 UTC) the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over Typhoon Phanfone as it made landfall over Tokyo, Japan. At this point, Typhoon Phanfone is category 3 with maximum sustained winds at 127 miles per hour (mph) and gusts reaching 155 mph. Phanfone caused landslides and flooding throughout Japan. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. For forecasters, GPM's microwave and radar data are part of the toolbox of satellite data, including other low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, that they use to monitor tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The addition of GPM data to the current suite of satellite data is timely. Its predecessor precipitation satellite, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, is 18 years into what was originally a three-year mission. GPM's new high-resolution microwave imager data and the unique radar data ensure that forecasters and modelers won't have a gap in coverage. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All GPM data products can be found at NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM Explores Typhoon Vongfong
    2014.10.14
    On October 9, 2014 (0248UTC) the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over Typhoon Vongfong as it headed towards Japan. At this point, the storm had weakened to a category 4 typhoon with maximum sustained winds at 150 miles per hour (mph), down form a category 5 typhoon on October 8th. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. For forecasters, GPM's microwave and radar data are part of the toolbox of satellite data, including other low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, that they use to monitor tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The addition of GPM data to the current suite of satellite data is timely. Its predecessor precipitation satellite, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, is 18 years into what was originally a three-year mission. GPM's new high-resolution microwave imager data and the unique radar data ensure that forecasters and modelers won't have a gap in coverage. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All GPM data products can be found at NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website http://pps.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
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    GPM captures Hurricane Odile
    2014.09.17
    On September 15, 2014 (15:11 UTC) the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over Hurricane Odile as it made landfall on the Baja peninsula. At this point, Hurricane Odile is category 2 with maximum sustained winds at 98 miles per hour (mph) and gusts reaching 121 mph. Odile caused major damage to several Mexican beach resorts including Cabo San Lucas, and has the potential to cause flash flooding as far as Phoenix, Arizona. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. For forecasters, GPM's microwave and radar data are part of the toolbox of satellite data, including other low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, that they use to monitor tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The addition of GPM data to the current suite of satellite data is timely. Its predecessor precipitation satellite, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, is 18 years into what was originally a three-year mission. GPM's new high-resolution microwave imager data and the unique radar data ensure that forecasters and modelers won't have a gap in coverage. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All GPM data products can be found at NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM Dissects Hurricane Arthur
    2014.07.08
    The Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory flew over Hurricane Arthur five times between July 1 and July 6, 2014. Arthur is the first tropical cyclone of the 2014 Atlantic Hurricane season. It formed as a tropical storm on Tuesday, July 1 and reached maximum intensity as a Category 2 hurricane on July 4, disrupting some coastal U.S. Independence Day celebrations. This visualization is taken from the flyover on July 3, 2014 with Hurricane Arthur just off the South Carolina coast. GPM data showed that the hurricane was asymmetrical, with spiral arms, called rain bands, on the eastern side of the storm but not on the western side. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of the rain, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. For forecasters, GPM's microwave and radar data are part of the toolbox of satellite data, including other low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, that they use to monitor tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The addition of GPM data to the current suite of satellite data is timely. Its predecessor precipitation satellite, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, is 18 years into what was originally a three-year mission. GPM's new high-resolution microwave imager data and the unique radar data ensure that forecasters and modelers won't have a gap in coverage. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The satellite launched Feb. 27, and after its check-out period began its prime mission on May 29, in time for hurricane season. All GPM data products will be released to the public by September 2, 2104. Current and future data sets are available to registered users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.

Snow

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    2018 Snow Cyclone
    2018.01.19
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over the United States east coast during a snow cyclone on April 1, 2017. This storm delivered up to 18 inches of snow in some parts of New England. Areas as far south as Norfolk, Virginia received up to 10 inches. This storm was also accompanied by very high winds, ranging from 50 to 80 miles per hour. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
  •
    April Fool's Day Snow Storm
    2017.04.10
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over the United States northeast coast during a snow storm on April 1, 2017. This snow storm delivered up to 18 inches of snow in some parts of New England. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    North East Snow Storm on December 17, 2016
    2017.03.03
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core observatory satellite flew over the United States east coast during a snow storm on December 17, 2016. This print resolution image was created for use on the GPM Senior Review document. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM Sees Baltimore/Washington Corridor Snow Storm (Feb. 21, 2015)
    2015.02.26
    At 10:05 a.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015, the Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory flew over a snow storm that covered most of the Washington DC metro area leaving as much as 9 inches of snow in some of the surrounding suburbs.

    The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions.

    GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.

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    GPM Observes Snow Storm over Kentucky, West Virginia, and North Carolina (Feb. 17, 2015)
    2015.02.26
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Satellite captured a 3-D image of a winter storm on Feb. 17 that left six to 12 inches of snow over much of Kentucky, southwestern West Virginia, and northwestern North Carolina. The shades of blue in the 3-D image indicate rates of snowfall with more intense snowfall shown in darker blue. Underneath where it melts into rain, the most intense rainfall is shown in red. You can see a lot of variation in precipitation types over the Southeastern portion of the United States.

    The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions.

    GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.

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    GPM Sees 2015 Nor'easter Dump Snow on New England
    2015.01.28
    At 5:06 p.m. EST Monday, Jan. 26, 2015, the Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory flew over the nor'easter dumping snow on New England. This satellite image shows precipitation rate of rainfall, in green to red, and snowfall, in blue to purple. The center of the storm, shown in 3-D, was offshore with far reaching bands of snowfall. More intense snow rates are shown in shades of blue, which can be seen on the northern edge of the storm and also over land up the coast from New York to Maine and into Canada, as well in the upper atmosphere before turning to heavy rainfall over the ocean.

    Nor'easters form when warm moist air traveling north with the Gulf Stream up the coast collides with cold air travelling down from Canada. The combination of moisture and cold can develop into snowstorms. In Jan. 2015, these air masses collided into a storm that brought blizzard conditions with, as of Tuesday morning, up to 30 inches of snow and 70 mile per hour winds across parts of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire New York and Rhode Island. Lesser snow totals also hit New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. Snow is expected to continue to fall into Wednesday as the storm moves northeast up the coast.

    The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions.

    GPM data is part of the toolbox of satellite data used by forecasters and scientists to understand how storms behave. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Current and future data sets are available with free registration to users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.

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    GPM Examines East Coast Snow Storm
    2014.09.04
    On March 17, 2014 the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over the East coast's last snow storm of the 2013-2014 winter season. This was also one of the first major snow storms observed by GPM shortly after it was launched on February 27, 2014. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. For forecasters, GPM's microwave and radar data are part of the toolbox of satellite data, including other low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, that they use to monitor tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The addition of GPM data to the current suite of satellite data is timely. Its predecessor precipitation satellite, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, is 18 years into what was originally a three-year mission. GPM's new high-resolution microwave imager data and the unique radar data ensure that forecasters and modelers won't have a gap in coverage. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. All GPM data products will be released to the public on September 4, 2104. Current and future data sets are available to registered users from NASA Goddard's Precipitation Processing Center website.
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    GPM Constellation
    2014.09.04
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission unites data from ten U.S. and international satellites that measure rainfall and snowfall. The partnership, co-led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is anchored by the GPM Core Observatory, launched on February 27, 2014. Carrying two advanced precipitation instruments, the GPM Microwave Imager and Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar, the Core Observatory measures the full range of precipitation types from heavy rainfall to, for the first time, light rain and snowfall. With an orbit that cuts across the path of the other satellites it is also used as a reference standard so that data from all the partner satellites can be meaningfully compared. The combined data from all ten satellites allows scientists to collect precipitation data from all parts of the world in under three hours.

Other Extreme Weather

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    GPM sees Louisiana Floods
    2016.09.27
    Twice on August 12, 2016 GPM flew over a massive rainstorm that flooded large portions of Louisiana. The flooding was some of the worst ever in the state, resulting in a state of emergency. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the wake of this unprecedented event. Throughout the course of August 12 (UTC) GPM captured the internal structure of the storm twice and GPM IMERG measured the rainfall accumulation on the ground. NASA's GPM satellite is designed to measure rainfall using both passive microwave (GMI) and radar (DPR) instruments. DPR can observe 3D structures of radar signals reflected by rain and snow in a narrower swath. IMERG is a NASA data product that combines data from 12 different satellites into a single seamless map. IMERG covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour.
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    India Monsoon - July 2014
    2015.11.19
    GPM scanned this storm structure over the western coast of India on July 28th, 2014 at 03:58 UTC. The most intense sections of the storm with the heaviest rainfall are shown in dark red. Three days later, on July 31st, a deadly landslide occurred in the same region. Scientists are currently studying heavy precipitation events such as this one in order to better predict landslides in the future. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions.

IMERG Visualizations

The satellites in the Global Precipitation Measurement Constellation provide unprecedented information about the rain and snow across the entire Earth. These visualizations show 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.
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    California Gets Slammed Again
    2017.02.23
    California has been experiencing a drought since 2012, but the first months of 2017 have brought some relief in the form of torrential rains. These rains have been brought to California in a series of atmospheric rivers, long narrow channels of water vapor in the atmosphere that reach from tropical latitudes to the coast of California. These channels bring rainfall to the state when they are disrupted by atmospheric conditions over California's eastern mountains. This visualization of atmospheric water vapor and precipitation during the first three months of February clearly show the successive atmospheric rivers and the resulting rainfall.

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    Atmospheric River Slams California
    2017.01.23
    After more than four years of drought, Californians may wonder where the current rain is coming from. Using satellites, NASA scientists have a unique view of the sources of precipitation, and how it reaches the western United States. Rain is often carried by narrow tendrils of moisture called atmospheric rivers that occur all over the world, shown here in white. The atmospheric rivers that affect the western United States are known as the Pineapple Express because they transport water vapor from as far south as Hawaii to California. When the moisture reaches land, it is forced up over the hills and mountains where it cools, producing significant rainfall. This type of precipitation provides about 40 percent of the state’s annual water supply.
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    NASA Calculates Matthew's Heavy Rains
    2016.10.07
    NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission or GPM core satellite captured Hurricane Matthew in 3-D as it made landfall on Haiti and as it travelled up to the Florida coast. GPM flew directly over the storm several times between October 2 - October 6, 2016. The most recent view on October 6 reveals massive amounts of rainfall being produced by the storm as it approaches Florida.

    The GPM core satellite carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions.

    For more information about the science behind Hurricane Matthew visit: http://www.nasa.gov/matthew

    For the latest storm warnings and safety information please consult your local news channels and the National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

    Video credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng

    Music credit: Diamond Skies by Andrew Skeet [PRS], Anthony Phillips [PRS] from the KillerTracks catalog

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    IMERG Rainfall Accumulation over the United States for May through August of 2016
    2016.09.05
    Significant rain fell in the continental United States during the summer of 2016. Serious flooding occured in both Louisiana and Maryland.
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    IMERG Rainfall Accumulation over the United States for 5/27/2016-6/9/2016
    2016.06.17
    A week-long series of heavy rain storms across Texas in late May to early June of 2016 led to flash floods from Houston to Dallas. This rain is captured in a rain accumulation visualization derived from the IMERG precipitation dataset.
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    North American Monsoon
    2016.06.23
    The monsoon is a seasonal rain and wind pattern that occurs all over the world. Through NASA satellites and models we can see the monsoon patterns like never before. Monsoon rains provide important reservoirs of water that sustain human activities like agriculture and supports the natural environment through replenishment of aquifers. This visualization uses NASA precipitation and soil moisture data to show how the monsoon develops over North America.
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    NASA-USDA-FAS Soil Moisture / IMERG
    2016.03.30
    This visualization shows the correlation and lag time of surface soil moisture following precipitation events over Australia, India, and the United States. It uses the new NASA-USDA-FAS Soil Moisture product, a joint effort of NASA and the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, and the global Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) precipitation dataset, which provides rainfall rates for the entire world every thirty minutes. This animation shows the 30-minute rainfall product, while the soil moisture data is a three-day moving average.
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    IMERG Rainfall Accumulation from December 2015 through February 2016
    2016.02.25
    This animation shows the accumulation of rainfall over the United States during December 2015, from the IMERG precipitation dataset.
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    IMERG Precipitation and MERRA Winds
    2015.10.08
    This visualization of assimilated surface winds from MERRA over the IMERG global precipitation data set was created for a forthcoming Science-on-a Sphere program about the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission.
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    Kilo's Precipitation Trail
    2015.09.17
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's core observatory launched on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called, IMERG, which combines data from 12 satellites into a single seamless global precipitation map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
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    Atmospheric River Reaching California
    2015.07.30
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission launched on Feb. 27, 2014. It is a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
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    Rainfall Accumulation across U.S. 2015
    2015.07.30
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission launched on Feb. 27, 2014. It is a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
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    Global Rainfall-Triggered Landslides
    2015.07.01
    Landslides occur when an environmental trigger like an extreme rain event, often a severe storm or hurricane, and gravity's downward pull sets soil and rock in motion. Conditions beneath the surface are often unstable already, so the heavy rains act as the last straw that causes mud, rocks, or debris- or all combined- to move rapidly down mountains and hillsides. Unfortunately, people and property are often swept up in these unexpected mass movements. Landslides can also be caused by earthquakes, surface freezing and thawing, ice melt, the collapse of groundwater reservoirs, volcanic eruptions, and erosion at the base of a slope from th flow of river or ocean water. But torrential rains most commonly activate landslides. The NASA Global Landslide Catalog (GLC) was developed with the goal of identifying rainfall-triggered landslide events around the world, regardless of size, impact, or location. The GLC considers all types of mass movements triggered by rainfall, which have been reported in the media, disaster databases, scientific reports, or other sources. THe GLC has been compiled since 2007 at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Here the GLC is shown with precipitation data detected by NASA's Integrated Multi-satellite Retrieval for the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) (IMERG). Landslide inventories are critical to support investigations of where and when landslides have happened and may occur in the future; however, there is surprisingly little information on the historical occurrence of landslides at the global scale. This visualization displays all rainfall-triggered landslides from 2007 through March 2015 from a publically available global rainfall-triggered landslide catalog(GLC). This is a valuable database for characterizing global patterns of landslide occurence and evaluating relationshipswith extreme precipitation at regional and global scales. For more information on the Global Landslide Catalog, please visit http://ojo-streamer.herokuapp.com
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    Global Rainfall-Triggered Landslides (2007-2015)
    2015.07.02
    Landslides occur when an environmental trigger like an extreme rain event, often a severe storm or hurricane, and gravity's downward pull sets soil and rock in motion. Conditions beneath the surface are often unstable already, so the heavy rains act as the last straw that causes mud, rocks, or debris- or all combined- to move rapidly down mountains and hillsides. Unfortunately, people and property are often swept up in these unexpected mass movements. Landslides can also be caused by earthquakes, surface freezing and thawing, ice melt, the collapse of groundwater reservoirs, volcanic eruptions, and erosion at the base of a slope from th flow of river or ocean water. But torrential rains most commonly activate landslides. The NASA Global Landslide Catalog (GLC) was developed with the goal of identifying rainfall-triggered landslide events around the world, regardless of size, impact, or location. The GLC considers all types of mass movements triggered by rainfall, which have been reported in the media, disaster databases, scientific reports, or other sources. THe GLC has been compiled since 2007 at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
    Landslide inventories are critical to support investigations of where and when landslides have happened and may occur in the future; however, there is surprisingly little information on the historical occurrence of landslides at the global scale. This visualization displays all rainfall-triggered landslides from 2007 through March 2015 from a publically available global rainfall-triggered landslide catalog(GLC). This is a valuable database for characterizing global patterns of landslide occurence and evaluating relationshipswith extreme precipitation at regional and global scales. For more information on the Global Landslide Catalog, please visit http://ojo-streamer.herokuapp.com
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    IMERG Southern Ocean Oscillations
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
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    IMERG Hurricane Bertha
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
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    IMERG Hurricane Bertha Precipitation Accumulation
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
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    IMERG Cyclones in the Pacific
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
  •
    IMERG Global Precipitation Rates
    2015.03.31
    The ten 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 animation of changing rain and snowfall. Finally, the video fades into an animation of IMERG, the newly available data set of global precipitation every thirty minutes that is derived from this satellite data.
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    IMERG Global Precipitation Accumulation
    2015.03.31
    The global IMERG precpitation dataset provides rainfall rates for the entire world every thirty minutes. Using this dataset, it is possible to calculate the amount of accumulated rainfal for any region over a period of time. This animation shows the accumulation of rainfall across the globe for a week in August, 2014. In addition to the dramatic accumulation near Japan due to Typhoon Halong and the track of Hurricane Bertha off the eastern coast of the United States, it is also possible to see a rare August storm over the North Sea near Europe, the origins of Hurricane Gonzalo on the western coast of Africa, and a deep tropical depression that produced floods across northern India.
  •
    IMERG United States
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
  •
    IMERG USA Precipitation Accumulation
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
  •
    IMERG Pacific Cyclones Precipitation Accumulation
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
  •
    IMERG Ghats Mountains, India
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
  •
    IMERG India Precipitation Accumulation
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
  •
    IMERG Typhoon Halong
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
  •
    IMERG Typhoon Halong Precipitation Accumulation
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
  •
    IMERG Amazon Dirunal Convection
    2015.03.31
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.

GPM Applications

Videos focusing on the application of GPM data around the world.
  •
    NASA Rainfall Data and Global Fire Weather
    2018.06.28
    The Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED) integrates different weather factors influencing the likelihood of a vegetation fire starting and spreading. It is based on the Fire Weather Index (FWI) System, which tracks the dryness of three general fuel classes, and the potential behavior of a fire if it were to start. Each day, FWI values are calculated from global weather data, including satellite rainfall data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The FWI System is the most widely used fire danger rating system in the world, and has been adopted for different boreal, temperate and tropical fire environments. GFWED provides a globally consistent fire weather dataset for fire researchers and managers to apply locally.

    The Fire Weather Index component is suitable as a general index of fire danger. Globally, shifts in continental-scale fire activity follow seasonal changes in the FWI. Over South America and Africa, regions of high FWI and active agricultural burning shift with the tropical rain belts, seen in the GPM precipitation overlay. Over North America and Eurasia, the FWI will ‘activate’ in the spring, and shows how week-to-week surges in fire activity can be driven by high FWI values. More information on GFWED and instructions on accessing the data are available from https://data.giss.nasa.gov/impacts/gfwed/

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    Using Precipitation Data to Assess Risk of Cholera Outbreaks
    2018.05.18
    Diarrheal diseases such as cholera continue to be a public health threat. Prediction of an outbreak of diarrheal disease, specifically cholera, following a natural disaster remains a challenge, especially in regions lacking basic safe civil infrastructure [water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)]. The underlying mechanism of a cholera outbreak is associated with disruption in the human access to safe WASH infrastructure that results in the population using unsafe water containing pathogenic vibrios. Presence and abundance of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, are related to modalities of the environment and regional weather as well as the climate systems. Major cholera outbreaks occur in two dominant forms: (a) epidemic, characterized by a sudden and sporadic occurrence of a large number of cholera cases and (b) endemic, in which human cholera cases occur on annual scales with distinct and characteristic seasonality. Natural disasters characteristically leave a trail of destruction, the result of which may be a human population deprived of access to WASH infrastructure. For example, under normal circumstances, the likelihood of a cholera outbreak is low, since the human population adapts to its specific behavioral pattern of water use. However, following a natural disaster, human behavior will change, if the availability, use pattern, and storage capacity of drinking water are altered as a result of the WASH infrastructure having been severely damaged and/or rendered unusable. Forecasting a cholera risk is challenging because of the lack of data on pathogen abundance in local water systems, weather and climate patterns and existing WASH infrastructure. Vibrios, including V. cholerae are autochthonous to the natural aquatic ecosystem, hence eradication is not feasible.

    A new modeling approach using satellite data will likely to enhance our ability to develop cholera risk maps in several regions of the globe. The model (GCRM) is based on monthly air temperature, precipitation, availability of WASH infrastructure, population density and severity of natural disaster. The outputs of GCRM can be visualized on 0.10x0.10, with the hope of improving the spatial scale as new data products are incorporated into the model.

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    New NASA Model Finds Landslide Threats in Near Real-Time During Heavy Rains
    2018.03.22
    A new model has been developed to look at how potential landslide activity is changing around the world. A global Landslide Hazard Assessment model for Situational Awareness (LHASA) has been developed to provide an indication of where and when landslides may be likely around the world every 30 minutes. This model uses surface susceptibility (including slope, vegetation, road networks, geology, and forest cover loss) and satellite rainfall data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission to provide moderate to high “nowcasts.” This visualization shows the landslide nowcast results leveraging nearly two decades of Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) rainfall over 2001-2016 to identify a landslide climatology by month at a 1 km grid cell. The average nowcast values by month highlight the key landslide hotspots, such as the Southeast Asia during the monsoon season in June through August and the U.S. Pacific Northwest in December and January.

    Overlaid with these nowcasts values are a Global Landslide Catalog(GLC) that was developed with the goal of identifying rainfall-triggered landslide events around the world, regardless of size, impact, or location. The GLC considers all types of mass movements triggered by rainfall, which have been reported in the media, disaster databases, scientific reports, or other sources. The visualization shows the distribution of landslides each month based on the estimated number of fatalities the event caused. The GLC has been compiled since 2007 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and contains over 11,000 reports and growing. A new project called the Community the Cooperative Open Online Landslide Repository, or COOLR, provides the opportunity for the community to view landslide reports and contribute their own. The goal of the COOLR project is to create the largest global public online landslide catalog available and open to for anyone everyone to share, download, and analyze landslide information. More information on this system is available at: https://landslides.nasa.gov.

    Landslides occur when an environmental trigger like an extreme rain event, often a severe storm or hurricane, and gravity's downward pull sets soil and rock in motion. Conditions beneath the surface are often unstable already, so the heavy rains act as the last straw that causes mud, rocks, or debris- or all combined- to move rapidly down mountains and hillsides. Unfortunately, people and property are often swept up in these unexpected mass movements. Landslides can also be caused by earthquakes, surface freezing and thawing, ice melt, the collapse of groundwater reservoirs, volcanic eruptions, and erosion at the base of a slope from the flow of river or ocean water. But torrential rains most commonly activate landslides.

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    Predicting Malaria Outbreaks With NASA Satellites
    2017.09.13
    In the Amazon Rainforest, few animals are as dangerous to humans as mosquitos that transmit malaria. The tropical disease can bring on severe fever, headaches and chills and is particularly severe for children and the elderly and can cause complications for pregnant women. In rainforest-covered Peru the number of malaria cases has spiked such that, in the past five years, it has had on average the second highest rate in the South American continent. In 2014 and 2015 there were 65,000 reported cases in the country.

    Containing malaria outbreaks is challenging because it is difficult to figure out where people are contracting the disease. As a result, resources such as insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor sprays are often deployed to areas where few people are getting infected, allowing the outbreak to grow.

    To tackle this problem, university researchers have turned to data from NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites, which are able to track the types of human and environmental events that typically precede an outbreak. With funding from NASA’s Applied Sciences Program, they are working in partnership with the Peruvian government to develop a system that uses satellite and other data to help forecast outbreaks at the household level months in advance and prevent outbreaks.
    Additional imagery from: Christopher B. Plunkett Fort James Gathany Fábio Medeiros da Costa

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    A New Multi-dimensional View of a Hurricane
    2017.07.25
    NASA researchers now can use a combination of satellite observations to re-create multi-dimensional pictures of hurricanes and other major storms in order to study complex atmospheric interactions. In this video, they applied those techniques to Hurricane Matthew. When it occurred in the fall of 2016, Matthew was the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in almost ten years. Its torrential rains and winds caused significant damage and loss of life as it coursed through the Caribbean and up along the southern U.S. coast.
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    Hurricane Forecasts Rely on Modeling the Past
    2016.05.25
    Improving hurricane forecasts means testing historical storms with today's sophisticated models and supercomputers. NASA and NOAA work together in gathering ground and satellite observations, as well as experimenting with research forecast models. As a result of this collaboration, model resolution has increased, and scientists are discovering more about the processes that occur within these powerful storms.

    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is a joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission that measures all forms of precipitation around the globe. GPM's Microwave Imager, or GMI, has proven useful in seeing beneath the swirling clouds and into the structure of tropical cyclones. The information gathered by GPM and other missions will be used to improve forecast models.

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    Applications: Too Much, Too Little
    2012.08.27
    Water is fundamental to life on Earth. Knowing where and how much rain and snow falls globally is vital to understanding how weather and climate impact both our environment and Earth's water and energy cycles, including effects on agriculture, fresh water availability, and responses to natural disasters. Since rainfall and snowfall vary greatly from place to place and over time, satellites can provide more uniform observations of rain and snow around the globe than ground instruments, especially in areas where surface measurements are difficult. GPM's next-generation global precipitation data will lead to scientific advances and societal benefits in the following areas:

    Improved knowledge of the Earth's water cycle and its link to climate change

    New insights into precipitation microphysics, storm structures and large-scale atmospheric processes

    Better understanding of climate sensitivity and feedback processes

    Extended capabilities in monitoring and predicting hurricanes and other extreme weather events

    Improved forecasting capabilities for natural hazards, including floods, droughts and landslides.

    Enhanced numerical prediction skills for weather and climate

    Better agricultural crop forecasting and monitoring of freshwater resources.

    For more information and resources please visit the Precipitation Measurement Missions web site.

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    Applications: Tropical Cyclones
    2012.08.27
    Water is fundamental to life on Earth. Knowing where and how much rain and snow falls globally is vital to understanding how weather and climate impact both our environment and Earth's water and energy cycles, including effects on agriculture, fresh water availability, and responses to natural disasters. Since rainfall and snowfall vary greatly from place to place and over time, satellites can provide more uniform observations of rain and snow around the globe than ground instruments, especially in areas where surface measurements are difficult. GPM's next-generation global precipitation data will lead to scientific advances and societal benefits in the following areas:

    Improved knowledge of the Earth's water cycle and its link to climate change

    New insights into precipitation microphysics, storm structures and large-scale atmospheric processes

    Better understanding of climate sensitivity and feedback processes

    Extended capabilities in monitoring and predicting hurricanes and other extreme weather events

    Improved forecasting capabilities for natural hazards, including floods, droughts and landslides.

    Enhanced numerical prediction skills for weather and climate

    Better agricultural crop forecasting and monitoring of freshwater resources.

    For more information and resources please visit the Precipitation Measurement Missions web site.

Video Features

Produced web shorts on science topics, engineering features, and team member profiles.
  •
    NASA Catches Super Typhoon Yutu Making Landfall
    2018.10.26
    NASA's GPM Core Observatory satellite captured an image of Super Typhoon Yutu when it flew over the powerful storm just as the center was striking the central Northern Mariana Islands north of Guam.

    Early Thursday, Oct. 25 local time, Super Typhoon Yutu crossed over the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. It was the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane. The National Weather Service in Guam said it was the strongest storm to hit any part of the U.S. this year.

    The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite, which is managed by both NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA analyzed Yutu on Oct. 24 at 11:07 a.m. EDT (1507 UTC)/ 1:07 a.m. Guam Time, Oct. 25. GPM estimated rain rates within Super Typhoon Yutu fusing data from two instruments aboard: the GPM Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar or DPR, which covered the inner part of the storm, and the GPM Microwave Imager or GMI that analyzed the outer swath, just as the center was passing over the Island of Tinian.

  •
    Inside Hurricane Maria in 360°
    2018.10.04
    Tour Hurricane Maria in a whole new way! Late on September 17, 2017 (10:08 p.m. EDT) Category 1 Hurricane Maria was strengthening in the Atlantic Ocean when the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over it. The Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar, measuring in a narrow band over the storm center, shows 3-D estimates of rain, with snow at higher altitudes. The tall "hot towers" characteristic of deepening hurricanes are actually topped by snow! Surface rainfall rates estimated by the GPM Microwave Imager paint the surface over a wider swath. During the tour, you'll see the radar-observed rain intensities displayed three different ways in various parts of the storm. Then, for the first time you'll see estimates of the precipitation particle sizes, which the GPM DPR is uniquely capable of showing, and which provide important insights into storm processes. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
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    NASA Studies Snow At The Winter Olympics
    2018.02.08
    This Winter Olympics, NASA will be studying how well researchers can measure snow from the ground and space and provide better data for snowstorm predictions.

    NASA will make these observations as one of 20 agencies from eleven countries in a project led by the Korean Meteorological Administration called the International Collaborative Experiments for PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, or ICE-POP.

    NASA.gov feature: NASA Seeks the Gold in Winter Olympics Snow

  •
    Intense String of Hurricanes Seen From Space
    2017.10.04
    In 2017, we have seen four Atlantic storms rapidly intensify with three of those storms - Hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria - making landfall.

    When hurricanes intensify a large amount in a short period, scientists call this process rapid intensification. This is the hardest aspect of a storm to forecast and it can be most critical to people’s lives.

    While any hurricane can threaten lives and cause damage with storm surges, floods, and extreme winds, a rapidly intensifying hurricane can greatly increase these risks while giving populations limited time to prepare and evacuate.

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    NASA Catches Hurricanes Jose and Maria
    2017.09.20
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission shows the rainfall distribution for two major storms churning in the Atlantic and Caribbean basins. The visualization shows Hurricane Jose as it continues to slowly move northward off the US East Coast east of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. At one time, Jose was a powerful Category 4 border line Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds reported at 155 mph by the National Hurricane Center back on the 9th of September as it was approaching the northern Leeward Islands. Jose passed northeast of the Leeward Islands as a Category 4 storm on a northwest track and then began to weaken due to the effects of northerly wind shear. Remaining over warm water allowed Jose to strengthen back into a hurricane on September 15th as wind shear across the storm diminished. At this time, Jose was still only midway between the central Bahamas and Bermuda, having just completed its loop, and moving to the northwest. On the 16th, Jose turned northward as it moved around the western edge of a ridge of high pressure near Bermuda and began to parallel the US East Coast well away from shore. An overpass by the GPM Core Observatory captured an image of Jose overnight at 3:36 UTC 18 September (11:36 pm EST 17 September) as the storm was moving due north at 9 mph well off shore from the coast of North Carolina. The GPM image estimated areas of very heavy rain on the order of 75 mm/hr (~3 inches per hour). The GPM Core Observatory satellite also had an excellent view of Hurricane Maria when it passed almost directly above the hurricane on September 17, 2017 at 1001 PM AST (September 18, 2017 0201 UTC). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) showed that Maria had well defined bands of precipitation rotating around the eye of the tropical cyclone. GPM's radar (DPR Ku band) found rain falling at a rate of over 6.44 inches (163.7 mm) per hour in one of these extremely powerful storms northeast of Maria's eye. Intense thunderstorms were found towering to above 9.7 miles (15.7 km). This kind of chimney cloud is also called a "hot tower" (as it releases a huge quantity of latent heat by condensation). These tall thunderstorms in the eye wall are often a sign that a tropical cyclone is becoming more powerful. Maria rapidly intensified following this view to a Category 5 storm on September 19th.
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    NASA Captures Hurricane Harvey's Rainfall
    2017.08.30
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory captured these images of Hurricane Harvey at 11:45 UTC and 21:25 UTC on the 27th of August nearly two days after the storm made landfall as it was meandering slowly southeast at just 2 mph (~4 kph) near Victoria, Texas west of Houston. The image shows rain rates derived from GPM's GMI microwave imager (outer swath) and dual-frequency precipitation radar or DPR (inner swath) overlaid on enhanced visible/infrared data from the GOES-East satellite. Harvey's cyclonic circulation is still quite evident in the visible/infrared clouds, but GPM shows that the rainfall pattern is highly asymmetric with the bulk of the rain located north and east of the center. A broad area of moderate rain can be seen stretching from near Galveston Bay to north of Houston and back well to the west. Within this are embedded areas of heavy rain (red areas); the peak estimated rain rate from GPM at the time of this overpass was 96 mm/hr (~3.77 inches per hour). With Harvey's circulation still reaching out over the Gulf, the storm is able to draw in a continous supply of warm moist air to sustain the large amount of rain it is producing.
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    North American Monsoon
    2017.08.03
    North America experiences a yearly monsoon weather system in late summer as moisture comes up from the west coast of Mexico and enters the southwestern U.S. The seasonal weather pattern brings both much of the region's precipitation but can also pose a threat in the form of flash flooding. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission gathers data from these storms in order to better understand the precipitation processes happening within, which can help better forecast the breaks and surges in the monsoon.
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    NASA Catches April 1 Nor'easter over New England
    2017.04.10
    At the time of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory overpass (April 1, 2017, 0550 UTC), the storm's center of low pressure was south of Long Island. At the mid-levels of the atmosphere, the circulation was centered over northeast Pennsylvania. This led to a classic overrunning, warm conveyor setup, which happened when the counterclockwise low level flow drew in cold air out of the north/northeast (hence "Nor'easter") from Canada. Higher up, warm and moist air from further south was lifted over this cold air and resulted in precipitation in the form of snow at the surface. The heavy band of snow that is visible in the GPM data resulted in 8-14 inch totals over southern Maine and New Hampshire, while totals further south in Massachusetts were limited by some mixing with rain.
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    GPM Gets Flake-y
    2017.02.17
    The Global Precipitation Measurement can help improve numerical weather predictions of snowfall by measuring the size and shape distribution of snow particles, layer by layer, in a storm.
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    GPM Sees Hurricane Matthew's Life Cycle
    2016.10.17
    Hurricane Matthew dropped a lot of rain, caused flooding and deaths in the state of North Carolina. Flooding is still widespread in North Carolina. Some rivers in North Carolina such as the Tar and the Neuse Rivers were still rising on Oct. 12. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland a rainfall analysis was accomplished using data from NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG). The GPM or Global Precipitation Measurement mission is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA. This rainfall analysis was created using IMERG real time data covering the period from Sept. 28 through Oct. 10, 2016. The totals included some rain from a low pressure area that moved through the area near the end of September. Hurricane Matthew’s interaction with a frontal boundary caused extreme rainfall in North Carolina resulting in over 20 inches (508 mm) of rain being reported in North Carolina. The area was already saturated before Hurricane Matthew arrived. Heavy rainfall from a slow moving low and frontal system moved through during the last week of September. Maximum rainfall total estimates for the real-time IMERG product have been adjusted to reflect observed values.
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    NASA Satellite Captures 3-D View Of Hurricane Matthew
    2016.10.07
    NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission or GPM core satellite captured Hurricane Matthew in 3-D as it made landfall on Haiti and as it travelled up to the Florida coast. GPM flew directly over the storm several times between October 2 - October 6, 2016. The most recent view on October 6 reveals massive amounts of rainfall being produced by the storm as it approaches Florida.

    The GPM core satellite carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions.

    For more information about the science behind Hurricane Matthew visit: http://www.nasa.gov/matthew

    For the latest storm warnings and safety information please consult your local news channels and the National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

    Video credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng

    Music credit: Diamond Skies by Andrew Skeet [PRS], Anthony Phillips [PRS] from the KillerTracks catalog

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    GPM Provides a Closer Look at the Louisiana Floods
    2016.09.27
    Twice on August 12, 2016 GPM flew over a massive rainstorm that flooded large portions of Louisiana. The flooding was some of the worst ever in the state, resulting in a state of emergency. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the wake of this unprecedented event. Throughout the course of August 12 (UTC) GPM captured the internal structure of the storm twice and GPM IMERG measured the rainfall accumulation on the ground. NASA's GPM satellite is designed to measure rainfall using both passive microwave (GMI) and radar (DPR) instruments. DPR can observe 3D structures of radar signals reflected by rain and snow in a narrower swath. IMERG is a NASA data product that combines data from 12 different satellites into a single seamless map. IMERG covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour.
  •
    Monsoons: Wet, Dry, Repeat...
    2016.06.23

    Complete transcript available.

    Music: Letting Go by Mario Lauer, 24 Dimensions by Christian Telford, David Travis Edwards, Matthew St. Laurent, and Robert Anthony Navarro

  •
    Life of the Monsoon
    2016.06.23
    The monsoon is a seasonal rain and wind pattern that occurs over South Asia (among other places). Through NASA satellites and models we can see the monsoon patterns like never before. Monsoon rains provide important reservoirs of water that sustain human activities like agriculture and supports the natural environment through replenishment of aquifers. However, too much rainfall routinely causes disasters in the region, including flooding of the major rivers and landslides in areas of steep topography. This is a web video version of the full visualization (featured below).
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    Why Do Raindrop Sizes Matter In Storms?
    2016.03.31
    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. Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube Channel.
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    Tracking California Rains During El Niño
    2016.03.08
    This winter, areas across the globe experienced a shift in rain patterns due to the natural weather phenomenon known as El Niño. New NASA visualizations of rainfall data show the various changes to California.

    According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, El Niño was expected to produce wetter-than-average conditions from December 2015 to February 2016. Scientists refer to historical weather patterns and to look at trends of where precipitation normally occurs during El Niño events. Also, several factors—not just El Niño—can contribute to unusual weather pattern.

  •
    Winston Over Fiji
    2016.02.29
    The NASA GPM satellite passed directly over Tropical Cyclone Winston just after it made landfall on the north coast of Viti Levu Island, which is the largest and most populated island in the nation of Fiji. At the time, Winston was one of the most intense tropical cyclones observed in the South Pacific Ocean, and took an unusual track on the way to Fiji, completing a large counter-clockwise loop during the preceding week. NASA's GPM satellite is designed to measure rainfall using both passive microwave (GMI) and radar (DPR) instruments. GMI measuremensts are sensitive to the column-integrated rain and ice water, and cover a wide swath, whereas the DPR can observe 3D structures of radar signals reflected by rain and snow in a narrower swath. In this animation, the GMI rainfall estimates are shown at the earth's surface below the 3D storm structure revealed by DPR.
  •
    Making Science Fun for Kids through Comics
    2015.12.21
    For more information go here. To get young students reading about science, NASA is trying something different. Instead of a press release or a scientific paper, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission has launched a Japanese manga-style comic book. GPM, a satellite collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, provides global estimates of rain and snow every three hours using advanced instruments. In spring 2013, a GPM Anime Challenge was held for artists from around the world aged 13 years and up to develop an anime-themed character for teaching students about the GPM mission. The lead characters in the anime project were selected from more than 40 submissions by a panel of NASA scientists and outreach specialists. The grand prize winners were "GPM" by Yuki Kiriga of Tokyo, Japan and "Mizu-chan" by Sabrynne Buchholz of Hudson, Colorado. With the lead characters selected, the GPM team crafted a story that wove together the science and engineering of the mission in bringing GPM from development to launch and ultimately to its orbit around Earth, and hired an artist to bring the story to life with artwork. Supplemental materials to support the text include an overview of the GPM mission, a description of the satellite and its instruments, examples of the data it collects, descriptions of some of the constellation partners, and a glossary of science terms used in the comic. The comic book can be found here. Comic book credits: Artist: Aja Moore GPM Character Artist: Yuki Kiriga Mizu-Chan Character Artist: Sabrynne Buchholz Comic Book Script: Kristen Weaver, Ellen Gray Web Design and Editor: Jacob Reed Comic Book Editors/Advisors: Dalia Kirschbaum, Dorian Janney, Kasha Patel
  •
    2015: One Year of Storms
    2016.01.04
    A look back at the storms captured by GPM around the world during 2015.

    The storms that appear in order are as follows:

    1. New England Nor’easter – January 26 – New England, USA 2. Snowstorm – February 17 – Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina, USA 3. Tornadic Thunderstorms in Midwest – March 25 – Oklahoma and Arkansas, USA 4. Typhoon Maysak – March 30 – Yap Islands, Southwest Pacific Ocean 5. Rain Accumulation from Cyclone Quang – April 28 through May 3 - Australia 6. Flooding in Central Texas and Oklahoma – May 19 through May 26 - USA 7. Hurricane Blanca – June 1 – Eastern Pacific Ocean, Baja Peninsula, Mexico 8. Tropical Storm Ashobaa – June 8 – Arabian Sea 9. Tropical Storm Carlos – June 12 – Southwestern Coast, Mexico 10. Tropical Storm Bill – June 16 – Texas, USA 11. USA Rain Accumulation – June through July - USA 12. Tropical Storm Raquel – July 1 – Solomon Islands, South Pacific Ocean 13. Tropical Storm Claudette – July 13 – North Atlantic Ocean 14. Typhoon Nangka – July 15 - Japan 15. Hurricane Delores Remnants Rainfall – July 13 through 20 – Southwestern USA 16. Typhoon Halola – July 21 - Japan 17. Typhoon Soudelor – August 5 – Taiwan and China 18. Hurricane/Typhoon Kilo – August 23 through September 9 – Hawaii and Pacific Ocean 19. Tropical Storm Erika – August 26 – Caribbean Sea 20. Tropical Storm Fred – August 30 – Cape Verde 21. Tropical Depression Nine – September 16 – Central Atlantic Ocean 22. Tropical Storm Ida – September 21 – Central Atlantic Ocean 23. Tropical Storm Niala – September 25 – Hawaii and Pacific Ocean 24. Tropical Storm Marty – September 27 – Southwestern Coast, Mexico 25. Typhoon Dujuan – September 22 through September 29 – Taiwan and China 26. Hurricane Joaquin – September 29 – Caribbean Sea 27. Typhoon Koppu – October 15 - Philippines 28. Hurricane Patricia – October 22 – Texas, USA 29. Tropical Cyclone Chapala – October 28 through November 3 – Yemen and Arabian Sea 30. Tropical Cyclone Megh – November 8 – Yemen and Arabian Sea 31. Typhoon IN-FA – November 19 – Western Pacific Ocean 32. Hurricane Sandra – November 26 – Eastern Pacific Ocean 33. India Flooding – November 28 through December 4 – Tamil Nadu, India 34. Winter Storm Desmond – November 30 through December 7 – United Kingdom 35. Tropical Cyclone 05S – December 9 – Reunion and Mauritius, South Indian Ocean 36. Super Typhoon Melor – December 12 - Philippines 37. Tornadoes and Flooding in Midwest – December 21 through December 28 – Midwestern USA 38. Paraguay Flooding – December 22 through December 29 – Asuncion, Paraguay 39. Tropical Depression 95P – December 29 – Pacific Ocean 40. Tropical Cyclone 06P (ULA) – December 30 – Samoa, South Pacific Ocean 41. Near Real-Time IMERG – December 25 through December 31

  •
    GPM Gets a Ton of Kilo
    2015.09.17
    A narrated visualization of Hurricane/Typhoon Kilo.

    For complete transcript, click here.

  •
    Water Falls: Getting the Big Picture
    2015.05.26
    The second spinoff video for the Science on a Sphere film "Water Falls." This video looks at the uses and advantages of remote sensing.
  •
    A Week in the Life of Rain
    2015.03.31
    Rain, snow, hail, ice, and every slushy mix in between make up the precipitation that touches everyone on our planet. But not all places rain equally. Precipitation falls differently in different parts of the world, as you see in NASA's new video that captures every shower, every snow storm and every hurricane from August 4 to August 14, 2014. The GPM Core Observatory, co-led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), was launched on Feb 27, 2014, and provides advanced instruments that can see rain and falling snow all the way through the atmosphere. This Core Observatory serves as the reference standard to unite preciptiation observations from a dozen satellites, which together produce the most detailed world-wide view of everything from light rain to heavy rain and, for the first time, falling snow. Scientists merged data from 12 precipitation satellites into a single seamless map called the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), or IMERG. Every 30 minutes, IMERG generates a new global map with a resolution of 10 kilometers by 10 km (6.2 miles by 6.2 mi), about the size of a small suburb. These comprehensive maps allow scientists to observe changes in precipitation patterns across 87 percent of the globe and through time.
  •
    GPM Yields IMERG
    2015.02.26
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines all of these data from 12 satellites into a single, seamless map.

    The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth’s climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.

  •
    GPM in a Minute
    2015.02.26
    A timelapse (2011-2014) of GPM in the clean room at Goddard Space Flight Center and at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan.
  •
    Scanning a Snow Storm
    2014.09.04
    On March 17, 2014 the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over the East coast's last snow storm of the 2013-2014 winter season. This was also one of the first major snow storms observed by GPM shortly after it was launched on February 27, 2014. The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and snow, which defines a crucial part of the storm structure – and how it will behave. The GPM Microwave Imager sees through the tops of clouds to observe how much and where precipitation occurs, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar observes precise details of precipitation in 3-dimensions. For forecasters, GPM's microwave and radar data are part of the toolbox of satellite data, including other low Earth orbit and geostationary satellites, that they use to monitor tropical cyclones and hurricanes.
  •
    The Data Downpour
    2014.01.28
    In a data-processing room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., racks of high-powered computers are getting ready to make a map. It's not the familiar satellite map of farms, forests and cities. Instead, this map will show what's hovering above the ground — snowfall and rainfall. The data will come from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission, an international partnership led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The GPM Core Observatory will launch in early 2014, but the mission goes beyond data gathering data from one satellite. Eleven spacecraft from U.S. agencies and other countries, all carrying similar instruments to measure rainfall, will contribute data to this global rain map. Compiling observations from these eleven sources into one unified global data set is the job of the Precipitation Processing System at Goddard.
  •
    Water Falls: Show Me the Water
    2014.07.30
    This is a spinoff video for the Science On a Sphere film, "Water Falls."
  •
    GPM's Stormy New View
    2014.03.25
    On 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.

    First data visualization of the three-dimensional structure of precipitation collected by the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar aboard the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory. The image shows rain rates across a vertical cross-section approximately 4.4 miles (7 kilometers) high through an extra-tropical cyclone observed off the coast of Japan on March 10, 2014. The DPR 152-mile (245 kilometers) wide swath is nested within the center of the GPM Microwave Imager's wider observation path. Red areas indicate heavy rainfall while yellow and blue indicate less intense rainfall. The GPM Core Observatory collects precipitation information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours.

  •
    GPM Arrives in Japan
    2014.01.06
    Built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., the GPM spacecraft travelled roughly 7,300 miles (11,750 kilometers) to its launch site at Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island, Japan, where it is scheduled for liftoff on Feb 27, 2014 1:07 pm (EST). GPM's Core Observatory is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to study rainfall and snowfall around the globe, including weather and storms that the Core Observatory previewed on its trans-Pacific journey.
  •
    Engineering the Core Observatory
    2014.01.01
    For the past three years, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory has gone from components and assembly drawings to a fully functioning satellite at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The satellite has now arrived in Japan, where it will lift off in early 2014.

    The journey to the launch pad has been a long and painstaking process. It began with the most basic assembly of the satellite's frame and electrical system, continued through the integration of its two science instruments, and has now culminated in the completion of a dizzying array of environmental tests to check and recheck that GPM Core Observatory will survive its new home in orbit.

  •
    Anatomy of a Raindrop
    2013.05.31
    This short video explains how a raindrop falls through the atmosphere and why a more accurate look at raindrops can improve estimates of global precipitation.

    For a printable droplet hand out click here.

  •
    Zebra Crossing
    2013.08.02
    Botswana's Okavango Delta and the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are two ends of a 360-mile round trip zebra migration, the second longest on Earth. In this animation, shades of red show dry areas, green represents vegetation, and the dots show GPS tracked zebras. The zebras begin at the Okavango Delta in late September. After the dry Southern hemisphere winter, November rains signal it is time to begin their two-week journey to the Salt Pans. The zebras feast on nutrient-rich grasses all summer, and return to the Delta as the rain peters out in April.

    Fences blocked this zebra migration from 1968 to 2004. After they came down, researchers began tracking zebras with GPS and discovered this migration. They compared the zebras' location to NASA satellite data of rainfall and vegetation, and they found that migrating zebras have quickly learned when to leave the Delta and the Salt Pans using environmental cues. Researchers then use these cues to predict when the zebras will be on the move, a powerful tool for conservation.

  •
    For Good Measure
    2013.04.07
    The need for measuring the when and where and how much of precipitation goes beyond our weekend plans. We also need to know precipitaiton on a global scale. Rain gauges and radars are useful but are inconsistent and do not cover enough of the globe to provide accurate precipitation rates. The GPM constellation will cover the globe and give us a more comprehensive look at precipitation.
  •
    Our Wet Wide World
    2013.04.12
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) is an international satellite mission to provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch a "Core" satellite carrying advanced instruments that will set a new standard for precipitation measurements from space. The data they provide will be used to unify precipitation measurements made by an international network of partner satellites to quantify when, where, and how much it rains or snows around the world.

    The GPM mission will help advance our understanding of Earth's water and energy cycles, improve the forecasting of extreme events that cause natural disasters, and extend current capabilities of using satellite precipitation information to directly benefit society.

  •
    GPM Enters TVAC
    2012.11.30
    GPM enters its testing phase in the Space Environmental Simulator (SES).
  •
    The Reign of Rain
    2012.11.27
    When it rains it pours, goes the saying, and for the last 15 years, the data on tropical rainfall have poured in. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) was launched on Nov. 27, 1997, and for the last decade and a half has enabled precipitation science that has had far reaching applications across the globe. Rain is one of the most important natural processes on Earth, and nowhere does it rain more than across the tropics. Orbiting at an angle to the equator that covers 35 degrees north to 35 degrees south of the equator, TRMM carries five instruments that collectively measure the intensity of rainfall, characteristics of the water vapor and clouds, and lightning associated with the rain events. One of the instruments, the Precipitation Radar, built by NASA's mission partner the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is the first precipitation radar flown in space. It returns images of storms that for the first time have revealed close up three-dimensional views of how rainbands in tropical cyclones develop, potentially indicating how strong the storms might become.
  •
    The Fresh(water) Connection
    2012.05.15
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) is an international satellite mission to provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch a "Core" satellite carrying advanced instruments that will set a new standard for precipitation measurements from space. The data they provide will be used to unify precipitation measurements made by an international network of partner satellites to quantify when, where, and how much it rains or snows around the world.

    The GPM mission will help advance our understanding of Earth's water and energy cycles, improve the forecasting of extreme events that cause natural disasters, and extend current capabilities of using satellite precipitation information to directly benefit society.

  •
    JAXA's DPR Arrives at Goddard
    2012.03.19
    The Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory arrived on Friday, March 16 and was unloaded today at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Comprised of two radars, the DPR is one of two instruments that will fly on the Core Observatory scheduled for launch in February 2014. The GPM mission will provide a new generation of satellite observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours for scientific research and societal benefits. NASA's mission partner JAXA developed the DPR in cooperation with Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology. The instrument will provide 3-D measurements of the shapes and sizes of raindrops and snowflakes and other physical characteristics that will allow scientists to better understand the physical properties of storms.
  •
    Wrapping Up Cold Season Campaign
    2012.03.17
    For six weeks in Ontario, Canada, scientists and engineers lead a field campaign to study the science and mechanics of falling snow. The datasets retrieved will be used to generate algorithms which translate what the GPM Core satellite "sees" into precipitation rates, including that of falling snow. Ground validation science manager Walt Petersen gives a summary of the GCPEx field campaign. Field campaigns are critical in improving satellite observations and precipitation measurements.
  •
    What We Don't Know About Snow
    2012.07.03
    GPM Deputy Project Scientist Gail Skofronick-Jackson discusses GPM's snowfall measurement capabilities and the challenges of measuring snow.

Facebook Live Events

Archives of the Facebook Live events.
  •
    Hurricane Matthew Live
    External Resource
    We’re talking about the science behind Hurricane Matthew using NASA satellite observations from space. NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement Mission or GPM core satellite saw tremendous amounts of rainfall throughout Haiti. GPM has now captured Matthew near the Florida coast undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle, a process that may re-intensify the storm.
  •
    Extreme Rainfall Live
    External Resource
    Ever wonder where in the world we get the most extreme rainfall (and how we know)? Or if climate change is going to cause more frequent and intense hurricanes? Join NASA scientists for a live discussion of how we study extreme weather from space and to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Operations Center.

Data Visualizations

Animated sequences based on actual data and/or simulations.
  •
    Global Fire WEather Database
    2018.06.28
    The Global Fire WEather Database (GFWED) integrates different weather factors influencing the likelihood of a vegetation fire starting and spreading. It is based on the Fire Weather Index (FWI) System, which tracks the dryness of three general fuel classes, and the potential behavior of a fire if it were to start. Each day, FWI values are calculated from global weather data, including satellite rainfall data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The FWI System is the most widely used fire danger rating system in the world, and has been adopted for different boreal, temperate and tropical fire environments. GFWED provides a globally consistent fire weather dataset for fire researchers and managers to apply locally. The Fire Weather Index component is suitable as a general index of fire danger. Globally, shifts in continental-scale fire activity follow seasonal changes in the FWI. Over South America and Africa, regions of high FWI and active agricultural burning shift with the tropical rain belts, seen in the GPM precipitation overlay. Over North America and Eurasia, the FWI will ‘activate’ in the spring, and shows how week-to-week surges in fire activity can be driven by high FWI values. In Indonesia, the Drought Code (DC) component is used to track the potential for agricultural fires to escape underground into peat soils, where they cannot be extinguished until the return of the monsoon rains. From August to October, areas of concentrated fire activity and high DC caused continuous smoke emissions and hazardously poor air quality until the return of the monsoon rains in November. Scientists are working with the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to augment their operational FWI system with GPM precipitation. In British Columbia, Canada, 2017 was a severe fire year, where the FWI is used for fire prevention and pre-preparedness. Through July and August, stretches of high FWI in the interior led to periods of extreme fire behavior and the highest annual recorded burned area for the province. More information on GFWED and instructions on accessing the data are available from https://data.giss.nasa.gov/impacts/gfwed/
  •
    Cholera Risk Maps
    2018.05.22
    Diarrheal diseases such as cholera continue to be a public health threat. Prediction of an outbreak of diarrheal disease, specifically cholera, following a natural disaster remains a challenge, especially in regions lacking basic safe civil infrastructure [water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)]. The underlying mechanism of a cholera outbreak is associated with disruption in the human access to safe WASH infrastructure that results in the population using unsafe water containing pathogenic vibrios. Presence and abundance of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, are related to modalities of the environment and regional weather as well as the climate systems. Major cholera outbreaks occur in two dominant forms: (a) epidemic, characterized by a sudden and sporadic occurrence of a large number of cholera cases and (b) endemic, in which human cholera cases occur on annual scales with distinct and characteristic seasonality. Natural disasters characteristically leave a trail of destruction, the result of which may be a human population deprived of access to WASH infrastructure. For example, under normal circumstances, the likelihood of a cholera outbreak is low, since the human population adapts to its specific behavioral pattern of water use. However, following a natural disaster, human behavior will change, if the availability, use pattern, and storage capacity of drinking water are altered as a result of the WASH infrastructure having been severely damaged and/or rendered unusable. Forecasting a cholera risk is challenging because of the lack of data on pathogen abundance in local water systems, weather and climate patterns and existing WASH infrastructure. Vibrios, including V. cholerae are autochthonous to the natural aquatic ecosystem, hence eradication is not feasible. A new modeling approach using satellite data will likely to enhance our ability to develop cholera risk maps in several regions of the globe. The model (GCRM) is based on monthly air temperature, precipitation, availability of WASH infrastructure, population density and severity of natural disaster. The outputs of GCRM can be visualized on 0.10x0.10, with the hope of improving the spatial scale as new data products are incorporated into the model.
  •
    Global Landslide Climatology with Reported Fatalities
    2018.03.22
    A new model has been developed to look at how potential landslide activity is changing around the world. A global Landslide Hazard Assessment model for Situational Awareness (LHASA) has been developed to provide an indication of where and when landslides may be likely around the world every 30 minutes. This model uses surface susceptibility (including slope, vegetation, road networks, geology, and forest cover loss) and satellite rainfall data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission to provide moderate to high “nowcasts.” This visualization shows the landslide nowcast results leveraging nearly two decades of Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) rainfall over 2001-2016 to identify a landslide climatology by month at a 1 km grid cell. The average nowcast values by month highlight the key landslide hotspots, such as the Southeast Asia during the monsoon season in June through August and the U.S. Pacific Northwest in December and January.

    Overlaid with these nowcasts values are a Global Landslide Catalog(GLC) that was developed with the goal of identifying rainfall-triggered landslide events around the world, regardless of size, impact, or location. The GLC considers all types of mass movements triggered by rainfall, which have been reported in the media, disaster databases, scientific reports, or other sources. The visualization shows the distribution of landslides each month based on the estimated number of fatalities the event caused. The GLC has been compiled since 2007 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and contains over 11,000 reports and growing. A new project called the Community the Cooperative Open Online Landslide Repository, or COOLR, provides the opportunity for the community to view landslide reports and contribute their own. The goal of the COOLR project is to create the largest global public online landslide catalog available and open to for anyone everyone to share, download, and analyze landslide information. More information on this system is available at: https://landslides.nasa.gov.

    Landslides occur when an environmental trigger like an extreme rain event, often a severe storm or hurricane, and gravity's downward pull sets soil and rock in motion. Conditions beneath the surface are often unstable already, so the heavy rains act as the last straw that causes mud, rocks, or debris- or all combined- to move rapidly down mountains and hillsides. Unfortunately, people and property are often swept up in these unexpected mass movements. Landslides can also be caused by earthquakes, surface freezing and thawing, ice melt, the collapse of groundwater reservoirs, volcanic eruptions, and erosion at the base of a slope from the flow of river or ocean water. But torrential rains most commonly activate landslides.

  •
    Landslides Climatology with Global Landslide Catalog data
    2018.04.26
    Landslides occur when an environmental trigger like an extreme rain event, often a severe storm or hurricane, and gravity's downward pull sets soil and rock in motion. Conditions beneath the surface are often unstable already, so the heavy rains act as the last straw that causes mud, rocks, or debris- or all combined- to move rapidly down mountains and hillsides. Unfortunately, people and property are often swept up in these unexpected mass movements. Landslides can also be caused by earthquakes, surface freezing and thawing, ice melt, the collapse of groundwater reservoirs, volcanic eruptions, and erosion at the base of a slope from the flow of river or ocean water. But torrential rains most commonly activate landslides. A new model has been developed to look at how potential landslide activity is changing around the world. A global Landslide Hazard Assessment model for Situational Awareness (LHASA) has been developed to provide an indication of where and when landslides may be likely around the world every 30min. This model uses surface susceptibility (including slope, vegetation, road networks, geology, and forest cover loss) and satellite rainfall data from the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission to provide moderate to high “nowcasts.” This visualization shows the landslide nowcast results leveraging nearly two decades of Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) rainfall over 2001-2016 to identify a landslide climatology by month at a 1 km grid cell. The average nowcast values by month highlight the key landslide hotspots, such as the Southeast Asia during the monsoon season in June through August and the U.S. Pacific Northwest in December and January.
    Overlaid with these nowcasts values are a Global Landslide Catalog was developed with the goal of identifying rainfall-triggered landslide events around the world, regardless of size, impact, or location. The GLC considers all types of mass movements triggered by rainfall, which have been reported in the media, disaster databases, scientific reports, or other sources. The visualization shows the distribution of landslides each month based on the estimated number of fatalities the event caused. The GLC has been compiled since 2007 at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and contains over 11,000 reports and growing. A new project called the Community the Cooperative Open Online Landslide Repository, or COOLR, provides the opportunity for the community to view landslide reports and contribute their own. The goal of the COOLR project is to create the largest global public online landslide catalog available and open to for anyone everyone to share, download, and analyze landslide information. More information on this system is available at: https://landslides.nasa.gov.
  •
    NASA's Earth Observing Fleet: March 2017
    2017.04.19
    This animation shows the orbits of NASA's fleet of Earth observing spacecraft that are considered operational as of March 2017. New elements in this version include the CYGNSS constellation and DSCOVR at L1. The clouds used in this version are from a high resolution GEOS model run at 10 minute time steps interpolated down to the per-frame level. The following spacecraft are included: Also included:
    • Stars
    • Moon
    • Sun
    • Earth
    • L1: Sun-Earth Lagrange Point
  •
    Monsoons: Wet, Dry, Repeat...
    2016.06.23
    The monsoon is a seasonal rain and wind pattern that occurs over South Asia (among other places). Through NASA satellites and models we can see the monsoon patterns like never before. Monsoon rains provide important reservoirs of water that sustain human activities like agriculture and supports the natural environment through replenishment of aquifers. However, too much rainfall routinely causes disasters in the region, including flooding of the major rivers and landslides in areas of steep topography. This visualization uses a combination of NASA satellite data and models to show how and why the monsoon develops over this region. In the summer the land gets hotter, heating the atmosphere and pulling in cooler, moisture-laden air from the oceans. This causes pulses in heavy rainfall throughout the region. In the winter the land cools off and winds move towards the warmer ocean and suppressing rainfall on land.
  •
    High Resolution Layers from "Monsoons: Wet, Dry, Repeat..."
    2016.06.23
    The visualizations here are based on the visualization "Monsoons: Wet, Dry, Repeat".
  •
    IMERG Accumulation Map
    2015.03.31
    The global IMERG precpitation dataset provides rainfall rates for the entire world every thirty minutes. Using this dataset, it is possible to calculate the amount of accumulated rainfal for any region over a period of time. This animation shows the accumulation of rainfall across the globe for a week in August, 2014. In addition to the dramatic accumulation near Japan due to Typhoon Halong and the track of Hurricane Bertha off the eastern coast of the United States, it is also possible to see a rare August storm over the North Sea near Europe, the origins of Hurricane Gonzalo on the western coast of Africa, and a deep tropical depression that produced floods across northern India.
  •
    IMERG Global Precipitation Rates
    2015.02.26
    NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet. As scientists work to understand all the elements of Earth's climate and weather systems, and how they could change in the future, GPM provides a major step forward in providing the scientific community comprehensive and consistent measurements of precipitation.
  •
    GMI First Light
    2014.03.25
    Eleven 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 site
    Other multimedia items related to this story:
         GPM GMI First Light (id 11508)
         GPM DPR First Light (id 11509)
  •
    DPR First Light
    2014.03.25
    Images and animation from the GPM DPR first light.
  •
    TRMM Global Rainfall
    2014.02.27
    The Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, mission will use an international constellation of satellites to study global rain, snow and ice to better understand our climate, weather, and hydrometeorological processes. We cannot understand the water and energy cycle or predict weather and climate without an accurate knowledge of the intensity and distribution of global precipitation. Measurement of various aspects of precipitation (e.g. distribution, amount, rates, and the associated heat release) represents one of the most challenging research problems in Earth science. Yet, accurate global precipitation measurements will benefit weather, climate, hydro-meteorological, and applications communities alike. The concept of Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) is NASA's response to the need for accurate global precipitation measurement.
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    3D Mowhawk
    2012.12.03
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is co-led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). NASA and JAXA will provide a GPM Core satellite to serve as a reference for precipitation measurements made by a constellation of satellites. The GPM Core satellite carries two instruments: a state-of-the-art radiometer called the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and the first space-borne Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), which sees the 3D structure of falling rain and snow. The DPR and GMI work in concert to provide a unique database that will be used to improve the accuracy and consistency of measurements from all partner satellites, which will then be combined into the uniform global precipitation dataset.

    This animation shows the scanning capabilities of the GMI and DPR onboard the GPM Core satellite. Heavy rainfall is shown in red and light rainfall in blue. The DPR shows 3D precipitation in a midlatitude storm from two overlapping swaths. The Ka-band frequency scans across a region of 78 miles (125 kilometers) and is nested within the wider scan of the Ku-band frequency of 147 miles (245 kilometers). JAXA and Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) built the DPR. The GMI, shown as the flat precipitation values,constantly scans a region 550 miles (885 kilometers) across. The Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation built the GMI under contract with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

    The GPM Core observatory is currently being built and tested at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. It is scheduled to launch from Tanegashima space center in Japan in early 2014.

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    GPM Constellation
    2012.05.28
    Nine U.S. and international satellites will soon be united by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, a partnership co-led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). NASA and JAXA will provide the GPM Core satellite to serve as a reference for precipitation measurements made by this constellation of satellites, which will be combined into a single global dataset continually refreshed every three hours.

    While each partner satellite has its own mission objective, they all carry a type of instrument called a radiometer that measures radiated energy from rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core satellite carries two instruments: a state-of-the-art radiometer called the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and the first space-borne Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), which sees the 3D structure of falling rain and snow. The DPR and GMI work in concert to provide a unique database that will be used to improve the accuracy and consistency of measurements from all partner satellites, which will then be combined into the uniform global precipitation dataset.

    In this animation the orbit paths of the partner satellites of the GPM constellation fill in blue as the instruments pass over Earth. Rainfall appears light blue for light rain, yellow for moderate, and red for heavy rain. Partner satellites are traced in green and purple, and the GPM Core is traced in red.

    The GPM Core observatory is currently being built and tested at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. It is scheduled to launch from Tanegashima space center in Japan in early 2014.

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    DC-8 Flight Path for GCPEx
    2012.01.31
    NASA is flying an airborne science laboratory through Canadian snowstorms for six weeks in support of a difficult task of the upcoming Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission: measuring snowfall from space. GPM is an international satellite mission scheduled for launch in 2014 that will provide next-generation observations of worldwide rain and snow every three hours. It is the first precipitation mission designed to detect falling snow from space. NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory flew this flight path on Jan 19, 2012 in support of NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement Cold-season Precipitation Experiment (GCPEx) snow study. The GCPEx field campaign will help scientists match measurements of snow in the air and on the ground.

Animations

Conceptual and illustrative animations of GPM instruments and science concepts.
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    GPM Has Best Calibrated Microwave Imager in the World
    2017.02.07
    With so many important applications, how does GPM create these maps and make sure they’re accurate? In a recent evaluation, GPM’s microwave imager was named the best calibrated microwave imager to date. So what exactly makes it the best? It’s a combination of better hardware and more advanced technology.
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    Drop Size Distribution
    2016.03.31
    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. Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube Channel.
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    Landslide Animation
    2015.07.27
    Landslide animation
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    Beauty Pass
    2013.10.31
    A variety of animated beauty passes of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core spacecraft.
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    Launch and Deploy
    2012.11.01
    This version contains music and sound effects.
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    Instrument Animations
    2013.04.16
    This conceptual animation shows the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) scanning through a cloud detecting various precipitation particles.

People of GPM

OLYMPEX Field Campaign 2015-2016

The Olympic Mountain Experiment, or OLYMPEX, is a NASA-led field campaign, which will take place on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State from November 2015 through February 2016. The goal of the campaign is to collect detailed atmospheric measurements that will be used to evaluate how well rain-observing satellites measure rainfall and snowfall from space. In particular, OLYMPEX will be assessing satellite measurements made by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Core Observatory.
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    OLYMPEX Gallery
    Gallery
    The Olympic Mountain Experiment, or OLYMPEX, is a NASA-led field campaign, which will take place on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State from November 2015 through February 2016. The goal of the campaign is to collect detailed atmospheric measurements that will be used to evaluate how well rain-observing satellites measure rainfall and snowfall from space. In particular, OLYMPEX will be assessing satellite measurements made by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission Core Observatory, a joint mission by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which launched in 2014.

    For more information: http://pmm.nasa.gov/olympex

Launch Coverage

GPM launched at 1:37 PM EST on February 27, 2014, from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan.
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    GPM Launch from Japan
    2014.02.26
    A Japanese H-IIA rocket with the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory onboard, is seen launching from th Tanegashima Space Center, 1:37 PM (EST) on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, Tanegashima Space Center. The GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours.
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    Live Launch Coverage
    2014.02.26
    A Japanese H-IIA rocket with the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory onboard, is seen launching from th Tanegashima Space Center, 1:37 PM (EST) on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, Tanegashima Space Center. The GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours.
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    Launch Video File
    2014.02.26
    A Japanese H-IIA rocket with the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory onboard, is seen launching from th Tanegashima Space Center, 1:37 PM (EST) on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, Tanegashima Space Center. The GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours.
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    Postlaunch Briefing from Japan
    2014.02.26
    A Japanese H-IIA rocket with the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory onboard, is seen launching from th Tanegashima Space Center, 1:37 PM (EST) on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, Tanegashima Space Center. The GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours.
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    Launch Live Shot Campaign
    2014.02.26
    NASA scientists talk about the GPM mission ahead of launch.
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    Launch Coverage Promo
    2014.02.20
    Join NASA as we count down the launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission at 12:00 PM EST, Thursday, February 27, 2014. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and it will set a new standard in measuring rain and snow around the world. As we build up to the launch from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, our NASA scientists will discuss the satellite's major innovations and the big questions GPM will set out to answer. Follow along on NASA Television (www.nasa.gov/ntv) and ask your big questions to the experts using #gpm on Twitter. GPM is scheduled to launch from Tanegashima Space Center at 1:07 PM EST on February 27, 2014. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/GPM.

Countdown to Launch

Short videos highlighting major steps along the way from Goddard Space Flight Center, Md., to launch from Tanegashima Island, Japan.
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    Waiting for Launch
    2014.02.20
    GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Core Observatory will link data from a constellation of current and planned satellites to produce next-generation global measurements of rainfall and snowfall from space.

    The GPM mission is the first coordinated international satellite network to provide near real-time observations of rain and snow every three hours anywhere on the globe. The GPM Core Observatory anchors this network by providing observations on all types of precipitation. The observatory's data acts as the measuring stick by which partner observations can be combined into a unified data set. The data will be used by scientists to study climate change, freshwater resources, floods and droughts, and hurricane formation and tracking.

  •
    GPM's Last Stop Before Orbit
    2014.02.20
    GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Core Observatory will link data from a constellation of current and planned satellites to produce next-generation global measurements of rainfall and snowfall from space.

    The GPM mission is the first coordinated international satellite network to provide near real-time observations of rain and snow every three hours anywhere on the globe. The GPM Core Observatory anchors this network by providing observations on all types of precipitation. The observatory's data acts as the measuring stick by which partner observations can be combined into a unified data set. The data will be used by scientists to study climate change, freshwater resources, floods and droughts, and hurricane formation and tracking.

  •
    Greetings from Minamitane!
    2014.02.20
    GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Core Observatory will link data from a constellation of current and planned satellites to produce next-generation global measurements of rainfall and snowfall from space.

    The GPM mission is the first coordinated international satellite network to provide near real-time observations of rain and snow every three hours anywhere on the globe. The GPM Core Observatory anchors this network by providing observations on all types of precipitation. The observatory's data acts as the measuring stick by which partner observations can be combined into a unified data set. The data will be used by scientists to study climate change, freshwater resources, floods and droughts, and hurricane formation and tracking.

  •
    Fairing Encapsulation
    2014.02.20
    GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Core Observatory will link data from a constellation of current and planned satellites to produce next-generation global measurements of rainfall and snowfall from space.

    The GPM mission is the first coordinated international satellite network to provide near real-time observations of rain and snow every three hours anywhere on the globe. The GPM Core Observatory anchors this network by providing observations on all types of precipitation. The observatory's data acts as the measuring stick by which partner observations can be combined into a unified data set. The data will be used by scientists to study climate change, freshwater resources, floods and droughts, and hurricane formation and tracking.

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    Arriving in Japan
    2013.11.26
    An international satellite that will set a new standard for global precipitation measurements from space has completed a 7,300-mile journey from the United States to Japan, where it now will undergo launch preparations.

    A U.S. Air Force C-5 transport aircraft carrying the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory landed at Kitakyushu Airport, about 600 miles southwest of Tokyo, at approximately 10:30 p.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 23.

    The spacecraft, the size of a small private jet, is the largest satellite ever built at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. It left Goddard inside a large shipping container Nov. 19 and began its journey across the Pacific Ocean Nov. 21 from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska.

    From Kitakyushu Airport, the spacecraft was loaded onto a barge heading to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA's) Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in southern Japan, where it will be prepared for launch in early 2014 on an H-IIA rocket.

  •
    GPM Ships Out
    2013.11.26
    An international satellite that will set a new standard for global precipitation measurements from space has completed a 7,300-mile journey from the United States to Japan, where it now will undergo launch preparations.

    A U.S. Air Force C-5 transport aircraft carrying the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory landed at Kitakyushu Airport, about 600 miles southwest of Tokyo, at approximately 10:30 p.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 23.

    The spacecraft, the size of a small private jet, is the largest satellite ever built at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. It left Goddard inside a large shipping container Nov. 19 and began its journey across the Pacific Ocean Nov. 21 from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska.

    From Kitakyushu Airport, the spacecraft was loaded onto a barge heading to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA's) Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in southern Japan, where it will be prepared for launch in early 2014 on an H-IIA rocket.

Raw Media for Broadcast

HD broadcast-quality footage of the GPM Core spacecraft in various stages of integration and testing, as well as the shipping of the spacecraft to Japan in preparation for launch.
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    TRMM b-roll
    2014.07.22
    This is footage of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM).
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    GPM Arrives in Japan
    2014.01.17
    Extended b-roll of GPM's arrival in Japan and journey to Tanegashima Space Center, Japan.

    Built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., the GPM spacecraft travelled roughly 7,300 miles (11,750 kilometers) to its launch site at Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island, Japan, where it is scheduled for liftoff on Feb 27, 2014 1:07 pm (EST). GPM's Core Observatory is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to study rainfall and snowfall around the globe, including weather and storms that the Core Observatory previewed on its trans-Pacific journey.

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    GPM Ships Out
    2013.11.25
    An international satellite that will set a new standard for global precipitation measurements from space began its 7,300-mile journey from Maryland to Japan where it will undergo launch preparations. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is a partnership led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). GPM’s Core Observatory satellite is designed to unify precipitation measurements made by a constellation of U.S. and international partner satellites to achieve global coverage of rain and snow every three hours. The spacecraft was carried by truck from its design and testing home at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., on Nov. 19th inside a large transportation container to Andrews Air Force Base, Md. The container was loaded onto an Air Force C-5 transport aircraft, which left Andrews early on Nov. 21 for a 15-hour flight to the Kitakyushu Airport in Japan. From the Kitakyushu Airport the spacecraft will be loaded onto a barge and shipped to JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in southern Japan where it will be prepared for launch in early 2014 on a H-IIA rocket. The GPM Core Observatory satellite, which is the size of a small business jet, is the largest Earth science satellite ever built at NASA Goddard.

    This is footage of the GPM Core spacecraft leaving Goddard Space Flight Center and traveling to Andrews Air Force Base for travel to Japan for launch.

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    GPM Video File
    2013.11.05
    The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is an international satellite mission that will set a new standard for precipitation measurements from space, providing the next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. GPM data will advance our understanding of the water and energy cycles and extend the use of precipitation data to directly benefit society. JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is NASA's main partner in GPM. GPM will launch in early 2014.
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    Spacecraft B-roll
    2012.06.14
    A selection of footage of the GPM Core Observatory building, testing, and integration.
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    Snow B-roll
    2012.07.03
    GPM Deputy Project Scientist Gail Skofronick-Jackson discusses GPM's snowfall measurement capabilities and the challenges of measuring snow.
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    GCPEx Airborne Campaign
    2012.01.10
    NASA is flying an airborne science laboratory through Canadian snowstorms for six weeks in support of a difficult task of the upcoming Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission: measuring snowfall from space. GPM is an international satellite mission scheduled for launch in 2014 that will provide next-generation observations of worldwide rain and snow every three hours. It is the first precipitation mission designed to detect falling snow from space.

Prelaunch Press Briefings

Press briefings held on January 27, 2014, from Goddard Space Flight Center.
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    Prelaunch Press Briefings
    2014.01.30
    NASA held a series of media events Monday, Jan. 27, in advance of the February launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory from Japan. The events were held at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

    GPM is an international satellite mission led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) that will provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide. GPM data also will contribute to climate research and the forecasting of extreme weather events such as floods and hurricanes.

    The GPM Core Observatory is scheduled to lift off Feb. 27, between 1:07 and 3:07 p.m. EST, from JAXA's Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.

    Media events include briefings on the GPM mission and science. Briefing panelists are:

    Steven Neeck, deputy associate director, flight program, Earth Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington

    Kinji Furukawa, GPM Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar deputy project manager, JAXA, Tsukuba

    Art Azarbarzin, GPM project manager, Goddard

    Ramesh Kakar, GPM program scientist, Headquarters

    Gail Skofronick-Jackson, GPM deputy project scientist, Goddard

    Riko Oki, GPM/DPR program scientist, JAXA

    To view on YouTube, click here for the Mission Briefing and the Science Briefing.

High Resolution Still Images

Large images of the GPM Core spacecraft over several building, testing and integration milestones.

Educator Resources

These are elements that may be used as materials in presentations.