Logo for GPM Applications showing ecology, water and agriculture, energy, disasters, health, and weather.

Applications

 

Image

Overview

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission has several cross-cutting application areas which contribute to and enhance our understanding of weather forecasting, disasters, ecology, health, water and agriculture and energy. Using advanced space-borne instruments, GPM measures light rain to heavy rain and falling snow, producing a near-global view of precipitation every 30 minutes. Through improved measurements of rain and snow, precipitation data from the GPM mission is used by a diverse range of applications and user communities at local to global scales to inform decision making and policy that directly benefits society. 

Sections

What are Applications? 

“Applications” refers to the use of mission data products in decision-making activities for societal benefit. Mission Applications take a satellite's data products and expands them into areas where they can help inform policy or decisions. 

Learn more about Applied Sciences at NASA

Who's Using GPM Data?

Learn about the different people and organizations that are using GPM and other NASA Earth data to help improve life around the world. 

View Articles


GPM Mentorship Program

NASA’s GPM applications team and University of Coimbra’s Earth and Space Science Center (CITEUC Portugal) have collaborated to host the GPM Mentorship Program for several years.

The program supports users from established and underrepresented user communities to provide a tailored hands-on learning experience in using GPM data for applications. It provides participants with training and tools to use state-of-the-art GPM satellite-based precipitation estimates, and helps them apply GPM data to support real-world problems and benefit their communities. 

Learn more about each GPM Mentorship Program session2024, 2023, 2022

 

 

 

GPM Data for Decision Making

Are you using GPM satellite precipitation data in your work, or would you like to? Share your story with our team, or ask us any questions you may have using our contact form.

We also encourage you to get involved in GPM applications by attending an applications event or accessing the free and publicly available data in the data section of this site

  • Dalia Kirschbaum (NASA GSFC), GPM Mission Associate Deputy Project Scientist for Applications
  • Andrea Portier (NASA GSFC / SSAI), GPM Applications and Outreach Coordinator
  • Dorian Janney (NASA GSFC / ADNET), GPM Outreach Specialist
  • Jacob Reed (NASA GSFC / Telophase), GPM Web Developer

Applications Featured Resources

GPM overpass of Hurricane Ian on Sept. 26, 2022
Hurricane Ian became one of the strongest hurricanes on record to strike Florida when it made landfall Wednesday, Sept. 28th, 2022, around 3:10 pm (EDT) as a Category 4 storm near Cayo Costa, FL, about 20 miles west-southwest of Punta Gorda on Florida’s southwest coast. This same area was hit hard by Hurricane Charley in 2004, which also made landfall as a strong Category 4 storm. Both storms passed over and were intensified by the deep, warm waters of the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. Ian originated from a tropical easterly wave that propagated westward off the coast of Africa across the
IMERG precipitation totals from Hurricane Ian
Hurricane Ian formed in the Caribbean Sea on Sept. 26, 2022. Ian intensified to Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale by the time it made landfall in western Cuba early the next day. NASA's near real-time IMERG algorithm was used to estimate the precipitation from Ian during its formation and intensification. IMERG shows that Ian's largest rainfall accumulation so far, over 12 inches, occurred while it was only a tropical storm and not yet a hurricane. The National Hurricane Center provided an estimate of the distance that tropical storm-force winds extended from Ian's low-pressure
GPM overpass of Hurricane Fiona on Sept. 23, 2022.
After leaving the Caribbean, Hurricane Fiona became both the strongest and the first major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season as it made its way northward through the western Atlantic. Fiona began as an African easterly wave that moved across the tropical Atlantic in the direction of the Caribbean. While still about 800 miles east of the Leeward Isles, this wave organized into a tropical depression on Sept.14th. Later that same day, the depression strengthened and became Tropical Storm Fiona. Fiona remained a moderate tropical storm as it passed through the Leeward Isles on the
IMERG precipitation estimates from Hurricane Fiona
In September 2022, Hurricane Fiona had impacts in the Caribbean, on Bermuda, and in Canada. NASA's satellites and science algorithms helped to monitor this hurricane in near real time.
GPM overpass of Typhoon Nanmadol
Super Typhoon Nanmadol became one of the strongest typhoons to threaten Japan since records began in 1951. Nanmadol began as a tropical disturbance, basically an area of active thunderstorms, on September 11th southeast of Iwo Jima about midway between Tokyo and Guam. After moving to the southwest for 2 days, this disturbance became better organized and formed into a depression on the 13th. The system then made a counterclockwise loop, moving first back to the northeast before turning back again towards the west. Over this time, the system slowly intensified, becoming Tropical Storm Nanmadol
Screenshot of the High-Impact Weather Assessment Toolkit (HIWAT),
Bangladesh has a long history of deadly and costly storms. Because these storms are so localized, they can be notoriously difficult to forecast, especially without access to the most advanced weather prediction technology. Researchers have created a new tool to boost the country’s ability to forecast severe weather. The SERVIR program - a joint initiative of NASA, USAID, and leading geospatial organizations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America - and the Bangladesh Meteorological Department ( BMD ) recently launched the High-Impact Weather Assessment Toolkit ( HIWAT ), a web-based tool that
IMERG totals from twin cyclones in the Indian Ocean
Over the past several days, a relatively rare event occurred in the eastern Indian Ocean: the formation of “twin” tropical cyclones. Tropical Cylones Karim and Asani formed at nearly the exact same time (06:00 UTC and 06:30 UTC, 12:00 pm and 12:30 pm local time) on May 7 on opposite sides of the Equator. Karim officially formed first in the southern hemisphere (SH) followed immediately by Asani in the northern hemisphere (NH). At first glance, the cyclones appear to be mirror images of one another with Asani rotating counterclockwise in the NH and Karim rotating clockwise in the SH roughly
IMERG rainfall totals in South Africa, April 5 - 18, 2022.
An upper-level area of low pressure tapped into the warm waters of the South Indian Ocean to bring heavy rains and flooding to parts of South Africa during the second week of April. The event unfolded when an upper-level trough of low pressure embedded within the midlatitude westerlies traversed the southern part of Africa from west to east. As the trough approached the east coast of South Africa, an area of low pressure became detached from the main flow, this “cut off” low then drifted over the warm waters of the Agulhas Current, which channels warmer waters from the tropical Indian Ocean
IMERG Rainfall Totals from Australian :"Rain Bomb" in March 2022
The below animation shows surface rainfall estimates from NASA’s IMERG multi-satellite precipitation product for the week starting on Feb. 22, 2022 at 0000 UTC and ending on Feb. 28, 2022 at 2330 UTC. Areas shaded in blue and yellow show three-hour average snapshots of IMERG rain rates every half-hour overlaid on cloudiness (shown in white/gray) based on geosynchronous satellite infrared observations. Below the rain rates and cloudiness data, IMERG rainfall accumulations are shown in green and purple. Tropical Cyclone Anika’s track is shown with a gray line based on data from the U.S. Navy-Air
IMERG rainfall totals from the Nov. 2021 atmospheric river.
The Pacific Northwest coast saw two atmospheric rivers (ARs) bring heavy rains from Nov. 10-16, 2021, resulting in severe flooding, landslides, and damage to infrastructure in the British Columbia province of Canada. ARs are long, narrow corridors of water vapor that travel vast distances above the ocean from warm, tropical regions to higher latitudes, where they often release their moisture as rainfall when they reach land areas. While ARs occur across the globe, this year has been notable for several strong events that have impacted the Pacific Northwest coast. The two atmospheric rivers in

GPM IMERG precipitation rates and totals from Tropical Cyclone Freddy, Feb. 6 - March 12, 2023. Credit: NASA 

Download in high resolution from the NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio

In a series of three half-day virtual meetings, this workshop will focus on current applications and future opportunities of NASA precipitation and cloud data products to support transport and logistical activities for aviation, maritime, roads and highway transportation systems. The workshop will bring together representatives from federal and state operational agencies and private companies to discuss how NASA precipitation and cloud products could be better leveraged to inform decision-making for transport and logistical operations. The workshop will also provide an opportunity for end...

Cameras outside the International Space Station captured dramatic views of Hurricane Zeta at 12:50 pm ET October 28, as it churned 200 miles south-southwest of New Orleans packing winds of 90 miles an hour. Credit: NASA International Space Station

GPM Core Observatory overpass of Tropical Storm Zeta on October 28 at approximately 3:25am CDT (8:25 UTC). Credit: NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio

View an interactive 3D visualization of this overpass in STORM Event Viewer

Hide Body

Hide Date

Hide Main Image

Hide Title