Global warming may increase the risk for extreme rainfall and drought according to a NASA-led modeling study. The study shows for the first time how rising carbon dioxide concentrations could affect the entire range of rainfall types on Earth. Analysis of information from 14 climate models indicates wet regions of the world, such as the equatorial Pacific Ocean and the Asian monsoon regions, will likely see increases in heavy precipitation because of warming resulting from projected increases in carbon dioxide levels. Arid land areas outside the tropics and many regions with moderate rainfall could become drier. The models project for every 1 degree Fahrenheit of carbon dioxide-induced warming, heavy rainfall will increase globally by 3.9 percent and light rain will increase globally by 1 percent. However, total global rainfall is not projected to change much because moderate rainfall will decrease globally by 1.4 percent.This visualization displays areas with no rain (brown), moderate rain (tan), and heavy rain (blue). Very Heavy rainfall (cark blue) is defined as months that receive an average of 0.95 of an inch of rain per day (24 mm/day) every day for the months of June, July, and August. Heavy rainfall is defined as months that receive an average of more than about 0.35 of an inch per day (9 mm/day). Light rain is defined as months that receive an average of less than 0.01 of an inch per day. Moderate rainfall is defined as months that receive an average of between about 0.04 to 0.09 of an inch per day. ||

Global warming may increase the risk for extreme rainfall and drought according to a NASA-led modeling study. The study shows for the first time how rising carbon dioxide concentrations could affect the entire range of rainfall types on Earth. Analysis of information from 14 climate models indicates wet regions of the world, such as the equatorial Pacific Ocean and the Asian monsoon regions, will likely see increases in heavy precipitation because of warming resulting from projected increases in carbon dioxide levels. Arid land areas outside the tropics and many regions with moderate rainfall could become drier. The models project for every 1 degree Fahrenheit of carbon dioxide-induced warming, heavy rainfall will increase globally by 3.9 percent and light rain will increase globally by 1 percent. However, total global rainfall is not projected to change much because moderate rainfall will decrease globally by 1.4 percent.This visualization shows an average rainfall month for June,July, and August. The movie will display areas with no rain (brown), moderate rain (tan), and heavy rain (blue). Very Heavy rainfall (dark blue) is defined as months that receive an average of 0.95 of an inch of rain per day (24 mm/day) every day for the months of June, July, and August. Heavy rainfall is defined as months that receive an average of more than about 0.35 of an inch per day (9 mm/day). Light rain is defined as months that receive an average of less than 0.01 of an inch per day. Moderate rainfall is defined as months that receive an average of between about 0.04 to 0.09 of an inch per day. ||

The collision of a flow of moisture from Hawaii known as a 'Pineapple Express' and a persistent low pressure system are wreaking havoc on California weather. This movie shows rain accumulation in San Diego from Jan. 6 through Jan. 11 based on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)-based Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis. The accumulation is shown in colors ranging from green (less than 50 mm of rain) through red (200 mm or more). The TRMM satellite, using the world's only spaceborne rain radar and other microwave instruments, measures rainfall over the ocean. In this case instruments were able to reveal rainfall structure resulting from storms 'riding' the actual Pineapple Express extending toward Hawaii, which is beyond the range of conventional land-based National Weather Service radars.In early 1995, a Pineapple Express hit California, contributing to a season of winter storms that killed 27 people and did $3 billion in damages and costs. A Pineapple Express in mid-October 2003 wreaked havoc from south of Seattle to north of Vancouver Island. Flooding forced more than 3,000 people from their homes. ||

This is a three-hour global rainmap from January 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005, as compiled by the TRMM satellite's Multi-satellite Precipation Analysis. The TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis produces three hourly rain rates at 0.250 latitude by 0.250 longitude grid covering 500S to 500N. The input data for this merged product include a merged intercalibrated microwave-only product (3B40RT) and an Infrared rain product that is calibrated using microwave rain rates (3B41RT). Currently, 3B40RT is generated using rain rate estimates from microwave measurements from the TRMM sensors and the Special Sensor Microwave Imagers on board the DMSP satellites using the Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF). 3B41RT is based on infrared measurements from geostationary satellites that are calibrated using microwave rain estimates. The 3B42RT estimate consists of the merged microwave estimate within the 3 hourly 0.25 degree space/time grid when available, and the calibrated IR rain rates otherwise. ||

This is a three-hour global rainmap from January 1, 2005 through December 31, 2004, as compiled by the TRMM satellite's Multi-satellite Precipation Analysis. The TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis produces three hourly rain rates at 0.250 latitude by 0.250 longitude grid covering 500S to 500N. The input data for this merged product include a merged intercalibrated microwave-only product (3B40RT) and an Infrared rain product that is calibrated using microwave rain rates (3B41RT). Currently, 3B40RT is generated using rain rate estimates from microwave measurements from the TRMM sensors and the Special Sensor Microwave Imagers on board the DMSP satellites using the Goddard Profiling Algorithm (GPROF). 3B41RT is based on infrared measurements from geostationary satellites that are calibrated using microwave rain estimates. The 3B42RT estimate consists of the merged microwave estimate within the 3 hourly 0.25 degree space/time grid when available, and the calibrated IR rain rates otherwise. ||

This is a monthly global rainmap from January, 1979 to January, 2001. The movie correlates 22 years of data from a combination of remote sensing data and ground based sources. ||

This animation shows rain accumulation between Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Ivan. The green path is the path Hurricane Frances took between August 25, 2004, and September 9, 2004. The red path is Hurricane Ivan from September 2, 2004, to September 19, 2004. ||

The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) is an element of the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) of the World Climate Research program (WCRP). It was established by the WCRP in 1986 with the initial goal of providing monthly mean precipitation data on a 2.5 ||

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. One of the critical components of the Earth's hydrological cycle is precipitation. Rainfall is essential for providing the fresh water that sustains life. Water cycling and the future availability of fresh water resources are immense societal concerns that impact every nation on Earth. It affects virtually every environmental issue. Solid forms of precipitation, such as snow and ice, frequently create hazardous conditions during winter storms. Heavy snowfalls severely disrupt transportation networks and temporarily paralyze local economies. Snowfall is also beneficial to many, as it provides the major source of fresh water during arid summer months in many mountainous regions. In the atmosphere, the condensation of water vapor into rain, and then rain into ice, releases vast quantifies of heat. The heat energy drives the wind systems of Earth's atmosphere, and powers violent storms such as hurricanes. In many respects, precipitation is truly the centerpiece of our planet's hydrological cycle, and understanding it is crucial to unraveling many of the uncertainties about Earth's climate.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. ||

This visualization follows the development of Hurricane Irene as it moves up the East Coast of the United States in August of 2011. There are three versions of this visualization. Two of the versions follow the eye of the storm until it dissipates, then pulls back to reveal the rain fall accumulation track as measured by the Tropcical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) using two different color tables. The first version only includes rainfall along the storm track. The second and third versions include all rainfall. The third version shows the rainfall accumulating as the storm moves.These visualizations were created to support presenstations at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) 2011. ||