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GPM: Hurricanes Beyond the Tropics

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On August 28, 2011, Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont, causing widespread damage and the worst flooding in 75 years. Irene's impact in New England shows that tropical cyclones can greatly affect regions outside the view of TRMM. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission will build upon TRMM's legacy by examining a larger swath of Earth with more sensitive instruments.

 

Global Precipitation Measurement Constellation

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Nine U.S. and international satellites will soon be united by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, a partnership co-led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). NASA and JAXA will provide the GPM Core satellite to serve as a reference for precipitation measurements made by this constellation of satellites, which will be combined into a single global dataset continually refreshed every three hours.
 

MicroRain Radar in the Smokies

MicroRain Radar in the Smokies
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MicroRain Radar at Purchase Knob in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This instrument is a vertical profiler radar that delivers information about structure in the atmospheric column and enables scientists to estimate the vertical distribution of rainfall. At all times of the day, light rainfall is the dominant type of precipitation. 

Light Rain in the Smokies

A misty mountaintop in the Smokies
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Mid-morning peak in light rainfall appears as clouds and fog at Purchase Knob in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Light rainfall is the most reliable and most frequent form of rainfall in the region, contributing 50 to 60 percent of the total precipitation over a year. Light rain is no less than the lifeline of freshwater resources for the landscape’s ecosystems.