The High Gain Antenna System onboard the GPM Core Observatory was successfully deployed and functionally tested after being integrated onto the spacecraft late last year. The HGAS is responsible for relaying data collected by the satellite’s instruments to Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRS) satellites. Data is sent back to Goddard Space Flight Center via a NASA wide-area network. The GPM High Gain Antenna System (HGAS) in integration and testing at Goddard Space Flight Center.

The 5th International Workshop for GPM Ground Validation (GV) hosted by Environment Canada was held on July 10-12, 2012, in Toronto, Canada. The primary objectives of the workshop were to improve understanding of high-latitude GV priorities and practices, identify and prioritize remaining issues with algorithm development, increase coordination amongst international partners, and improved understanding of how such information can be incorporated into GPM retrieval algorithms. Over 80 participants from 15 nations attended the workshop to report on cooperative ground validation activities

Over the past two weeks, a combination of the southwest monsoon and tropical cyclones passing in the vicinity of the northern Philippines has resulted in massive flooding in and around the Philippine capital. It is the worst flooding there since Typhoon Ketsana in 2009, which devastated Manila and killed over 400 people throughout the country. The current flooding began at the end of July with the passing of Typhoon Saola (known as Gener in the Philippines) northeast of Luzon. Although the center of Saola made landfall in northern Taiwan and passed well to the east of Luzon, the storm's

The TRMM satellite saw Ernesto on August 9, 2012 at 0656 UTC ( 2:36 AM EDT) after the tropical storm had moved from the Yucatan Peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico. An analysis of TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) rainfall is shown in the image above. This analysis shows that powerful convective thunderstorms were dropping rain at a rate greater than 50mm/hr (~2 inches) north of the storm's center. TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR) data were used in the image below to show a 3-D view of Ernesto's vertical structure. This PR view shows that a few of the powerful convective