GPM Completes Vibration Tests

The GPM Core satellite successfully completed vibration testing in July 2013, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The tests ensure that the spacecraft can withstand the vibrations caused by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-IIA rocket during satellite’s launch early in 2014. Sitting on a specialized mobile platform, the GPM spacecraft was abruptly moved back and forth in each of its three spatial orientations. GPM attached to the shaker table for horizontal vibration testing. Credit: Warren Shultzaberger / NASA

TRMM Sees Weak Tropical Storm Dorian

The TRMM satellite flew over tropical storm Dorian on July 24, 2013 at 1648 UTC providing data used in this image. Only light to moderate rainfall was found near Dorian's center of circulation by TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments. Precipitation is shown overlaid on a visible/infrared image from TRMM's Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS).

Extreme India Monsoon Rainfall Analyzed

Extreme, sometimes disastrous, monsoon rainfall has occurred so far over India during June and July 2013. The image above shows rainfall total estimates from space satellite data for the seven day period ending on June 17, 2013. Near real-time TRMM Merged HQ/Infrared Precipitation (3B42) data, with seven days totals, were analyzed for the period from June 14-July 25, 2013. These rainfall estimates are shown in simulated 3-D perspective views with higher precipitation amounts appearing to be taller than lower amounts. Rainfall totals were also color enhanced with lower amounts being assigned

TRMM Sees Tropical storm Dorian Forming

The image on the left used data captured by the TRMM satellite on July 22, 2013 at 1703 UTC when it passed above a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The tropical wave had moved from Africa into the eastern Atlantic earlier in the day. The TRMM satellite view on the right shows that the tropical wave's organization had greatly improved when data was again collected on July 23, 2013 at 0253 UTC. Analyses of rainfall from TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) are shown overlaid on Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS) data. A combination visible and infrared VIRS