1. A dual-frequency precipitation radar and a microwave imager scan storm clouds from the GPM satellite, 250 miles above the earth.
2. The smallest rain droplets, indicated here in blue, are about half a millimeter in diameter, or two one-hundredths of an inch across. The updrafts in clouds blow these lightweight drops to the upper regions of the storm clouds.
3. The heavier large rain droplets, indicated here in orange, fall to the lower regions of the clouds.These droplets are about 5 millimeters or about 3/16 inches in diameter.
TAG: The raindrop size and distribution is one of many factors that determine how much rain a storm will produce.
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Lepsch", "employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc." } ] } ], "missions": [ "Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)" ], "series": [], "tapes": [], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Earth" ], "keywords": [ "Atmosphere", "Earth Science", "GPM", "HDTV", "precipitation", "Raindrop", "Rainfall" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 12182, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12182/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Why Do Raindrop Sizes Matter In Storms?", "description": "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. || ", "release_date": "2016-03-31T13:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-12-15T23:24:25.563624-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 425541, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012100/a012182/YOUTUBE_HQ-drop_size_distribution_youtube_hq.02600_print.jpg", "filename": "YOUTUBE_HQ-drop_size_distribution_youtube_hq.02600_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This is a conceptual animation showing how the size and distribution of raindrops varies within a storm. The animation travels from the top to the bottom of a storm. Blues and greens represent small raindrops that are 0.5-3mm in size. Yellows, oranges, and reds represent larger raindrops that are 4-6mm in size. A storm with a higher ratio of yellows, oranges, and reds will contain more water than a storm with a higher ratio of blues and greens. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }