Articles

Too much or too little rainfall can have significant impacts on populations around the world. As population and global temperatures increase, it is crucial to understand what locations will become more vulnerable to extreme rainfall and drought and the subsequent natural hazards (e.g., landslides) and risks (e.g., lose of property) they impose. Satellites allow us to monitor changes in the precipitation, especially over oceans and regions where ground-based data are sparse. With its near-real-time precipitation estimates and near global coverage, GPM serves as an essential tool for assessing

Precipitation extremes, from heavy rainfall to droughts, pose great risks to a country’s economic development and human health. Standing water and flooding resulting from heavy rainfall has created societal vulnerabilities to vector and waterborne disease outbreaks such as malaria, schistosomiasis, cholera, and chikungunya, among others. Drought and extreme heat conditions have been associated with a wide range of health hazards including degraded air and water quality. These meteorological extremes also impact the growth of cities such as damaging transportation networks and infrastructures

Frequently Asked Questions Get answers to some of the more frequently asked questions about the GPM and TRMM missions and precipitation measurement in general. Image Gallery Photos and illustrations from GPM, TRMM, and the Ground Validation missions. Video Gallery Videos and animations from GPM, TRMM, and the Ground Validation missions. Documents View the PMM document repository, in which you can download scientific papers and other documents from GPM, TRMM, and the Ground Validation missions. GPM Refereed Publications TRMM Refereed Publications Lists of published research articles from the

Water is fundamental to life on Earth, affecting the behavior of the weather, climate, energy and ecological systems as water moves through the Earth’s water cycle as vapor, liquid and ice. Precipitation, a key component of the water cycle, is difficult to measure since rain and snow vary greatly in both space and time. Obtaining reliable ground-based measurements of rain and snow often presents a formidable challenge due to large gaps between reliable instruments over land and, particularly, over the oceans. From the vantage point of space, satellites provide more frequent and accurate observations and measurements of rain and snow around the globe. This allows key insights into when, where and how much it rains or snows globally, supplying vital information to unravel the complex roles water plays in Earth systems.