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VO: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, or TRMM, was launched in November

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of 1997 to precisely measure falling rain throughout

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the tropics. Eighteen years and thousands of storms later, TRMM has contributed

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to the advancement of scientific milestones.

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TRMM has advanced

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research in the areas of agriculture, disease tracking,

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precipitation physics, and natural hazards.
Scott: We get

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roughly three hourly rainfall estimates across much of the globe

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at fairly high resolution, and these rainfall estimates are used to

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monitor major rainfall events and to look for events

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that might lead to significant flooding, even landslides,

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and there are a number of groups that have been using it as sort of an early warning

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system.

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VO: TRMM's unforeseen

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longevity has provided more robust information on weather and climate patterns

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that can only be seen after years of observations. This nearly two decades

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of data lets scientists see variations in rainfall from year to year,

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how El Nino effects rain patterns worldwide, and the anatomy

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and life cycle of major storms, like hurricanes.
Scott: It's also proven to be

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an extremely useful satellite for understanding hurricanes

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partly because its orbit stays within the tropics so you get much more

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frequent observations. And it's just provided a wealth of

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rainfall information over its relatively short time period that

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in many ways surpasses all of the information that we had prior

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to that.

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VO: From giant storms

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to individual droplets, TRMM also provides scientists with data on the

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precise physics of falling raindrops.
Scott: TRMM has a unique set of

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instruments, including the first and only precipitation radar in space,

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it also has a microwave imager, which is an instrument that can give you

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the equivalent of an X-ray of a storm, whereas the radar is giving you

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more of a CAT scan of the storm. It provides

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extremely valuable information on the structure, rainfall structure,

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of storms, which tells us something about how the

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storm is responding to its environment, whether or not it might intensify

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or weaken in the upcoming hours.

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VO: As TRMM's mission ends, the Global Precipitation Measurement mission builds

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on TRMM's objectives. Launched in early 2014,

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GPM's two instruments are more advanced and more sensitive versions of TRMM's microwave

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imager and precipitation radar. GPM's orbit extends

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coverage beyond the tropics and provides measurements of light to heavy rain and snow,

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expanding TRMM's legacy into the future.

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