Videos

GPM Provides a Closer Look at the Louisiana Floods

Twice on Aug. 12, 2016, GPM flew over a massive rainstorm that flooded large portions of Louisiana. The flooding was some of the worst ever in the state, resulting in a state of emergency. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in the wake of this unprecedented event.

Throughout the course of Aug. 12 (UTC) GPM captured the internal structure of the storm twice and GPM IMERG measured the rainfall accumulation on the ground.

NASA's GPM satellite is designed to measure rainfall using both passive microwave (GMI) and radar (DPR) instruments. DPR can observe 3-D structures of...

Hurricane Forecasts Rely on Modeling the Past

Improving hurricane forecasts means testing historical storms with today's sophisticated models and supercomputers. NASA and NOAA work together in gathering ground and satellite observations, as well as experimenting with research forecast models. As a result of this collaboration, model resolution has increased, and scientists are discovering more about the processes that occur within these powerful storms.

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission is a joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission that measures all forms of precipitation around the globe. GPMs...

NASA’s Global Tour of Precipitation in Ultra HD (4K)

Precipitation (falling rain and snow) is our fresh water reservoir in the sky and is fundamental to life on Earth. This video shows the most detailed and worldwide view of rain and snowfall ever created and uses satellite measurements from the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory, or GPM, a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Tracking precipitation from space with satellites provides information of where, when, and how much it rains and snows anywhere in the world and gives insight into the behavior of our weather, climate, and...

Monsoons: Wet, Dry, Repeat...

 

The monsoon is a seasonal rain and wind pattern that occurs over South Asia (among other places). Through NASA satellites and models we can see the monsoon patterns like never before. Monsoon rains provide important reservoirs of water that sustain human activities like agriculture and supports the natural environment through replenishment of aquifers. However, too much rainfall routinely causes disasters in the region, including flooding of the major rivers and landslides in areas of steep topography. This visualization uses a combination of NASA satellite data and models to show how and...

Life of the Monsoon

The monsoon is a seasonal rain and wind pattern that occurs over South Asia (among other places). Through NASA satellites and models we can see the monsoon patterns like never before. Monsoon rains provide important reservoirs of water that sustain human activities like agriculture and supports the natural environment through replenishment of aquifers. However, too much rainfall routinely causes disasters in the region, including flooding of the major rivers and landslides in areas of steep topography. This is a web video version of the full visualization (featured below).

Music: Ruminations...

Why Do Raindrop Sizes Matter In Storms?

Not all raindrops are created equal. The size of falling raindrops depends on several factors, including where the cloud producing the drops is located on the globe and where the drops originate in the cloud. For the first time, scientists have three-dimensional snapshots of raindrops and snowflakes around the world from space, thanks to the joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. With the new global data on raindrop and snowflake sizes this mission provides, scientists can improve rainfall estimates from satellite data and in numerical...

Tracking California Rains During El Niño

This winter, areas across the globe experienced a shift in rain patterns due to the natural weather phenomenon known as El Niño. New NASA visualizations of rainfall data show the various changes to California.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, El Niño was expected to produce wetter-than-average conditions from December 2015 to February 2016. Scientists refer to historical weather patterns and to look at trends of where precipitation normally occurs during El Niño events. Also, several factors—not just El Niño—can contribute to unusual weather pattern.

Related...

NASA | GPM Analyzes Powerful Tropical Cyclone Winston over Fiji

The Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM mission core satellite passed directly over Tropical Cyclone Winston on Feb. 20  just after it made landfall on the north coast of Viti Levu Island, which is the largest and most populated island in the nation of Fiji.

At the time, Winston was one of the most intense tropical cyclones observed in the South Pacific Ocean, and took an unusual track on the way to Fiji, completing a large counter-clockwise loop during the preceding week.

The GPM satellite, co-managed by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is designed to measure rainfall...

NASA | OLYMPEX Successfully Grabs the Rains

NASA finishes campaign to study extreme rain, snow and winds of the Olympic National Forest. Scientists Walt Petersen of NASA Marshall and Robert Houze of the University of Washington narrate this inside look at the Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX) field campaign. During the campaign, NASA and its partners gathered precipitation data through both ground and airborne instruments around the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. They measured the abundance and variety of precipitation including light rain, heavy thunderstorms, and snowfall in the coastal forest.  The data collected will...

NASA | GPM: One Year of Storms

 

A look back at the snowstorms, tropical storms, typhoons, hurricanes and floods captured and analyzed by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission from around the globe during 2015. 

The complete list of storms by date and location are as follows:

1. New England Nor’easter – January 26 – New England, USA
2. Snowstorm – February 17 – Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina, USA
3. Tornadic Thunderstorms in Midwest – March 25 – Oklahoma and Arkansas, USA
4. Typhoon Maysak – March 30 – Yap Islands, Southwest Pacific Ocean
5. Rain Accumulation from Cyclone Quang – April 28...