Videos

Visualization showing accumulated precipitation from three hurricanes (Genevieve, Iselle, and Julio) around the Hawaiian Islands, with Hurricane Iselle making landfall.

NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The GPM Core Observatory launched on Feb. 27, 2014 as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which...

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Satellite captured a 3-D image of a winter storm on February 17, 2015, that left six to 12 inches of snow over much of Kentucky, southwestern West Virginia, and northwestern North Carolina. The shades of blue in the 3-D image indicate rates of snowfall with more intense snowfall shown in darker blue. Underneath where it melts into rain, the most intense rainfall is shown in red. You can see a lot of variation in precipitation types over the southeastern portion of the United States.

The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the...

This visualization shows the scanning capabilities of the two instruments onboard the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core satellite--a state-of-the-art radiometer called the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and the first space-borne Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), which sees the 3D structure of falling rain and snow.

The GPM mission is co-led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).  The GPM Core satellite to serves as a reference for precipitation measurements made by a constellation of satellites.  The DPR and GMI work in concert to provide a unique database...

This visualization shows heavy rainfall throughout Northern Texas and across Oklahoma as well as the drought in Southern California from January 1, 2015 through July 16, 2015.

NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission launched on Feb. 27, 2014. It is a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. IMERG combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set, allowing scientists to...

The GPM satellite captured Joaquin (which was a tropical storm at the time) on September 29, 2015, at 21:39 UTC as the hurricane moved slowly west-southwest about 400 miles east of the Bahamas.

At the time, Joaquin had been battling northerly wind shear, which was impeding the storm's ability to strengthen.  However, compared to earlier in the day, the system was beginning to gain the upper hand as the shear began to relax its grip. 

At the time this data was collected, Joaquin's low-level center of circulation was located further within the cloud shield, and the rain area was beginning to...

Combining multiple datasets on a single visualization can often illustrate natural processes even better than a single dataset can.  This visualization shows assimilated surface winds from MERRA (the Modern Era Retrospective Reanalysis of the Atmosphere) over the IMERG global precipitation data set for October 2014.  It was created for a forthcoming Science On a Sphere program about the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission.  Notice how the changing winds shape the areas of active precipitation, particularly over the ocean where there are no land features to affect the precipitation...

Visualization depicting Typhoon Maysak in the Southwest Pacific region as observed by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Satellite on March 30, 2015.  GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) precipitation rates are displayed first, then a slicing place moves across the volume to display precipitation rates throughout the structure of the storm.  Shades of green to red represent liquid precipitation extending down to the ground.

The storm later intensified to a category 5-equivalent super typhoon with 150-mph sustained winds.

The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the...

This visualization shows heavy rainfall throughout Northern Texas and across Oklahoma from January 1, 2015 through July 16, 2015 as well as the drought in Southern California during that same time period.

NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission launched on Feb. 27, 2014. It is a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is IMERG, which combines data from all 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any...

On December 5, 2014 (1032 UTC) the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory flew over Typhoon Hagupit as it headed towards the Philippines. A few hours later at 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EST), Super Typhoon Hagupit's maximum sustained winds were near 130 knots (149.6 mph/241 kph), down from 150 knots (172 mph/277.8 kph). Typhoon-force winds extend out 40 nautical miles (46 miles/74 km) from the center, while tropical-storm-force winds extend out to 120 miles (138 miles/222 km).

The GPM Core Observatory carries two instruments that show the location and intensity of rain and...

Hurricane Matthew dropped a lot of rain, caused flooding and deaths in the state of North Carolina. Flooding is still widespread in North Carolina. Some rivers in North Carolina such as the Tar and the Neuse Rivers were still rising on Oct. 12, 2016.

At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, a rainfall analysis was accomplished using data from NASA's Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG). The GPM, or Global Precipitation Measurement, mission is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

This rainfall analysis was...