The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory had a busy week at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. The GPM propulsion team did a thorough check of the propulsion system to prepare for fueling the spacecraft later this month. In addition, the GPM completed a full End-to-End test. End-to-End testing simulates mission conditions with the ground systems and communication systems between the spacecraft, data return functions, the Mission Operations Center and Precipitation Processing System at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and the Japan Aerospace Exploration

People in the southern Philippines are used to heavy rainfall this time of the year but rainfall totals have recently been exceptionally high. A tropical low northeast of Mindanao has been an almost permanent feature on weather maps for the past week. It has caused nearly continuous rain in the area of northeastern Mindanao triggering floods and landslides that have caused the reported deaths of 34 people. The TRMM Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA), produced at Goddard Space Flight Center, combines the rainfall estimates generated by TRMM and other satellites (3B42). The analysis

Tropical cyclone IAN meandered in an area of the Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Tonga as it intensified from tropical storm intensity with winds of 35kts (~41 mph) on January 5, 2014 to a deadly tropical cyclone with winds of 125kts (~144 mph) on January 11, 2014. Tropical cyclone IAN caused extensive damage and an unknown number of deaths when it passed through Tonga at the peak of it's intensity. The TRMM satellite provided excellent coverage of IAN with multiple passes directly above the tropical cyclone. Rainfall data collected by TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR)

Today the TRMM satellite passed above two tropical cyclones in the southern hemisphere. On January 10,2014 at 0117 UTC TRMM had a good daytime view of intensifying tropical cyclone IAN in the south Pacific Ocean east of Fiji with wind speeds over 90kts (~104 mph). Then at 0724 UTC TRMM passed directly above tropical cyclone Colin in the south Indian Ocean that was also intensifying with wind speeds estimated to be above 35kts (~40 mph). Rainfall derived from TRMM's Precipitation Radar (PR) and Microwave Imager (TMI) data was overlaid on Visible/Infrared images from the Visible and InfraRed