Meet Andrea Portier. By day, Portier is an application and outreach coordinator for the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM). By night — well, when she’s not at work — Portier can be found exploring local national parks and taking community classes. Portier spends her time honing her communication skills to help user communities understand GPM data and apply it to the real-world issues they face. We chatted with Portier to learn how she communicates complex ideas to diverse audiences, why her other career choice would be a wilderness therapy guide, and what advice she would give to...

Tropical cyclones, known as hurricanes in the western hemisphere, can bring damaging high winds, storm surge, and flooding rainfall to the coastal communities they hit. Satellite instruments - and the detailed near real-time atmospheric data that they provide - have revolutionized the way we see hurricanes and other disasters as they happen. But it’s about more than just seeing. NASA, working with counterparts at NOAA, FEMA, and elsewhere are sharing ever more precise data to aid local communities in coping with disasters. With better information, emergency responders have the tools to make...

On May 16, 2020, NASA / JAXA's GPM Core Observatory satellite observed the early stages of Tropical Cyclone Amphan as it tracked north over the Bay of Bengal. The below GPM overpass shows precipitation within Cyclone Amphan a day before it explosively intensified into a category 4-equivalent cyclone. Even at this early stage, Amphan produced heavy rain rates near its center and to its west and southwest. View fullscreen in STORM Event Viewer NASA monitored the heavy rain associated with Tropical Cyclone Amphan as it made landfall at 0900 UTC (2:30 PM local time) on May 20, 2020. Landfall...