1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 VO: Launched from Japan on February 27, 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,070 2014, the NASA/JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement mission, or GPM, 3 00:00:09,070 --> 00:00:13,070 has changed the way we see precipitation. It has 4 00:00:13,070 --> 00:00:17,070 provided unprecedented three-dimensional views of everything from 5 00:00:17,070 --> 00:00:21,070 light rain to intense thunderstorms. To mark its five years, we’re looking 6 00:00:21,070 --> 00:00:25,070 back at five big moments in GPM’s history of observing storms. 7 00:00:25,070 --> 00:00:29,070 [Music] 8 00:00:29,070 --> 00:00:33,070 VO: Not long after its launch in 2014, the GPM Core 9 00:00:33,070 --> 00:00:37,070 satellite captured Super Typhoon Vongfong as it headed for Japan. 10 00:00:37,070 --> 00:00:41,070 Braun: Super Typhoon Vongfong was one of the first Category 5 11 00:00:41,070 --> 00:00:45,070 intensity cyclones that GPM was able to observe. VO: The radar 12 00:00:45,070 --> 00:00:49,070 data revealed a clear eyewall with bands of rain encircling it, forming a 13 00:00:49,070 --> 00:00:53,070 secondary eyewall. GPM was able to observe Vongfong as it 14 00:00:53,070 --> 00:00:57,000 weakened. Braun: So the reason that Vongfong was weakening at this time 15 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,000 is what we refer to as an eyewall replacement cycle. So those bands outside 16 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,070 of the eyewall, forming a circle. They essentially cut off the inflow to 17 00:01:05,070 --> 00:01:09,000 the storm. [Music] 18 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,000 VO: Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas and 19 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,000 Louisiana in August 2017, dumping feet of rain, 20 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,000 making it the wettest tropical cyclone on record in the United States. 21 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:25,000 GPM was able to see the full structure of the hurricane beyond 22 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:29,000 the reach of ground-based radars. Huffman: As Harvey perched over Houston, 23 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,000 it became highly asymmetric with a large area of rainfall to the north 24 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:37,070 and almost no rainfall to the south. VO: The GPM mission was able to observe 25 00:01:37,070 --> 00:01:41,070 the historic rainfall estimates over land and ocean, shedding light 26 00:01:41,070 --> 00:01:45,070 on the structure and magnitude of the storm’s impacts. 27 00:01:45,070 --> 00:01:49,070 [Music] 28 00:01:49,070 --> 00:01:53,070 VO: Later in the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane season, GPM was able to see 29 00:01:53,070 --> 00:01:57,000 the evolution of Hurricane Ophelia. Braun: What was interesting about Ophelia 30 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:01,070 was the fact that it formed sort of from a decaying extratropical frontal system, 31 00:02:01,070 --> 00:02:05,070 what we call a tropical transition, going from an extratropical system to a tropical 32 00:02:05,070 --> 00:02:09,070 one. It managed to intensify up to a Category 3 33 00:02:09,070 --> 00:02:13,000 hurricane in the eastern Atlantic, and this was the farthest east that we’ve had a storm 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,070 of that intensity in the satellite record. 35 00:02:17,070 --> 00:02:21,070 VO: Later, Ophelia raced off to the northeast, bringing severe winds to the United Kingdom 36 00:02:21,070 --> 00:02:25,070 and Ireland. [Music] 37 00:02:25,070 --> 00:02:29,070 VO: On January 4, 2018, a large snowstorm 38 00:02:29,070 --> 00:02:33,070 rapidly intensified as it moved from the southeastern U.S. up 39 00:02:33,070 --> 00:02:37,070 the east coast. Braun: In fact it intensified so rapidly in terms of the drop of 40 00:02:37,070 --> 00:02:41,070 pressure at the center it was called a “bomb cyclone” and intensified about as 41 00:02:41,070 --> 00:02:45,070 much as you’d see with an intense hurricane. VO: GPM clearly depicted 42 00:02:45,070 --> 00:02:49,070 the transition from rain to snow, shown here as the rain layer 43 00:02:49,070 --> 00:02:53,070 in green, yellow and red becomes shallower and thinner as it progresses 44 00:02:53,070 --> 00:02:57,070 northward into snow, show in blue. 45 00:02:57,070 --> 00:03:01,070 [Music] VO: The GPM mission 46 00:03:01,070 --> 00:03:05,070 joins together data from an international satellites to create a 47 00:03:05,070 --> 00:03:09,070 global picture of precipitation in the Integrated Multi-satellitE 48 00:03:09,070 --> 00:03:13,070 Retrievals for GPM, or IMERG for short. Huffman: The great thing about 49 00:03:13,070 --> 00:03:17,070 IMERG is that the fine scale, in space and time, allows 50 00:03:17,070 --> 00:03:21,000 you to really see the details, and they flow smoothly from image to the next. 51 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,000 When you look at this particular week of IMERG, you see some very general patterns: 52 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,070 You see the high precipitation in the tropics, lower 53 00:03:29,070 --> 00:03:33,000 precipitation to the north and south of that, and then the storm tracks in midlatitudes. 54 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,070 VO: For five years, GPM data has advanced our understanding 55 00:03:37,070 --> 00:03:41,070 of how hurricanes form and intensify, demonstrated how individual 56 00:03:41,070 --> 00:03:45,070 raindrops are distributed inside storms, and produced 57 00:03:45,070 --> 00:03:49,070 unparalleled global coverage of precipitation across land and sea. 58 00:03:49,070 --> 00:03:53,070 [beeping] 59 00:03:53,070 --> 00:03:57,845 [beeping]