There are several sources for downloading and viewing data which allow you to subset the data to only include specific parameters and/or geographic locations. These include the GES DISC, Giovanni and STORM. In Giovanni you can obtain data for a specific country, U.S. state, or watershed by using the "Show Shapes" option in the "Select Region" pane.
Data
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Precipitation data from the GPM and TRMM missions are made available free to the public in a variety of formats from several sources at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. This section outlines the different types of data available, the levels of processing, the sources to download the data, and some helpful tips for utilizing precipitation data in your research.
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How do I get precipitation data for my specific location?
What happened to the TRMM Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA / 3B4x) data products?
The TRMM satellilte has been decommissioned and stopped collecting data in April 2015. The transition from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data products to the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission products has completed as of August 2019. The GPM IMERG dataset now includes TRMM-era data from June 2000 to the present, and other TRMM-era data has been reprocessed with GPM-era algorithms and is now available on the GPM FTP servers. TMPA data production ended as of December 31st, 2019 and the TRMMOpen FTP server has been shut down. Historical TMPA data is still available to download from the NASA GES DISC at: https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/datasets?keywords=TMPA&page=1
Click here for more details on the transition from TMPA to IMERG.
Am I allowed to use GPM data for my research?
Yes, in line with NASA's general data policy. Please refer to the GPM Data Policy for further details.
How do I give credit for using GPM data?
Where can I find detailed documentation on the precipitation algorithms?
Browse our directory of GPM & TRMM data products to locate your desired algorithm, then click on the links in the algorithm description under "Documentation". All documentation is also available at the Precipitation Processing System website.
What is the spatial and temporal resolution of GPM data?
The resolution of Level 0, 1, and 2 data is determined by the footprint size and observation interval of the sensors involved. Level 3 products are given a grid spacing that is driven by the typical footprint size of the input data sets.
For our popular multi-satellite GPM IMERG data products, the spatial resolution is 0.1° x 0.1° (or roughly 10km x 10km) with a 30 minute temporal resolution.
Visit the directory of GPM & TRMM data products for details on the resolution of each specific products.
Can I use images or videos from this site or other NASA websites?
For questions about permission for using NASA images and videos, please refer to NASA's official Media Usage Guidelines. For any additional questions please contact bert.ulrich@nasa.gov
Is it possible to subset GPM data?
There are several sources for downloading and viewing data which allow you to subset the data to only include specific parameters and/or geographic locations. These include the GES DISC, Giovanni and STORM. In Giovanni you can obtain data for a specific country, U.S. state, or watershed by using the "Show Shapes" option in the "Select Region" pane.
What is the difference between "Near Real-time" (NRT) and "Production" / "Research" data?
GPM data products can be divided into two groups (near real-time and production) depending on how soon they are created after the satellite collects the observations. For applications such as weather, flood, and crop forecasting that need precipitation estimates as soon as possible, near real-time data products are most appropriate. GPM near real-time (GMI & DPR) products are generally available within a few hours of observation. For all other applications, production data products are generally the best data sets to use because additional or improved inputs are used to increase accuracy. These other inputs are only made available several days, or in some cases, several months, after the satellite observations are taken, and the production data sets are computed after all data have arrived, making possible a more careful analysis.
For the GPM IMERG dataset, IMERG Early and Late Runs are the near real-time products, while IMERG Final Run is the research / production product. Click here to learn more about the differences between IMERG Early, Late and Final.
The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) has recently added all of the half-hourly and monthly *Final* IMERG data variables to the next generation of Giovanni, Giovanni-4 (G4). Giovanni is a Web-based application developed by the GES DISC that provides a simple and intuitive way for users to visualize, analyze, and access vast amounts of Earth science remote sensing data, without having to download the data. Learn more: http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gesNews/imerg_in_G4
TRMM/PR data distribution resumes during the experimental operation period. The satellite has descended to an altitude of around 350 km on February 12, 2015, which is the original nominal altitude before 2001. Verification of the data quality concluded and JAXA and PPS started distribution of PR data around the 350 km altitude (orbit number from 98231) to the public. PR available data period around 350 km altitude will be about 40 days since February 12, 2015. Please see TRMM/PR data distribution for further information and for the data locations.
PPS is re-releasing the first public version IMERG products The Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) merges precipitation estimates from passive microwave sensors, geo-IR, and monthly surface precipitation gauge analysis data (where available) to provide half-hourly and monthly precipitation estimates and related fields on a 0.1° lat./long. grid over the domain 60°N-S. The current period of record is mid-March 2014 to the present (delayed by about 3 months) .Please refer to the IMERG Release notes , the technical IMERG document and the IMERG Algorithm Theoretical Basis...
On December 8, 2014 and December 10, 2014 the GPM MOC will conduct deep space calibrations maneuvers that will assist in physically verifying GMI calibration changes and also help in further characterization of the GMI instrument itself. Special processing is required for the data collected during the DSC. Therefore, PPS production of Standard GMI products will be halted on Dec 8 at 20:30 UTC. Processing will resume during normal business hours on Dec 9. On December 10, the maneuver is scheduled to begin at 12:00 UTC. Depending on the arrival of the DSC data processing may again be halted...
The NOAA network is gradually being restored. MHS data appears to have started flowing around 02:00 UTC on 23 October 2014, but as of 08:00 UTC on 23 October 2014 the Meteosat geo-IR data was still missing. As a result, users should see reduced areas of "missing" and higher-quality estimates in general starting with the 03:00 UTC 23 October 2014 3B42RT.
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