PMM Science Team
Overview
The NASA Precipitation Measurement Missions (PMM) Science Team conducts scientific research (including algorithm development, mission implementation, product validation, and data utilization) in support of TRMM and GPM Missions. The team comprises scientists funded by NASA and international investigators selected by NASA on the basis of no exchange of funds.
PMM Science Program Management Team
| Name | Organization | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Ramesh K. Kakar | NASA Headquarters | TRMM and GPM Program Scientist |
| Dr. Gail Skofronick-Jackson | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | GPM Project Scientist and PMM Science Team Lead |
| Dr. George J. Huffman | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | GPM Deputy Project Scientist |
| Dr. Scott A. Braun | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | TRMM Project Scientist |
| Dr. Erich F. Stocker | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | GPM Deputy Project Scientist for Data and Precipitation Processing System Project Manager |
| Dr. Walter A. Petersen | NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | Deputy Project Scientist, Ground Validation |
| David B. Wolff | NASA Wallops Flight Facility | GPM Ground Validation System Manager |
| Dr. Dalia B. Kirschbaum | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | GPM Associate Deputy Project Scientist for Applications |
PMM Principal Investigators and Proposals
Attendees of the 2019 PMM Science Team Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana.
| Last Name | First Name | Affiliation | Proposal Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adler | Robert | University of Maryland, College Park | Climatology and Variations of Surface Precipitation: Use of GPM/TRMM in the Long-Term Record |
| Barros | Ana | Duke University | 4D Integration of Satellite and IPHEx GV Observations with Physical Models to Improve the Representation of Orographic Precipitation Processes and Enhance Precipitation Measurement and Simulation in Mountainous Regions |
| Berg | Wesley | Colorado State University | Improving Consistency in Precipitation Estimates from the GPM Radiometer Constellation Through Intercalibration, Sensitivity Analysis, and Bias Characterization |
| Bras | Rafael | Georgia Tech Research Corporation | Data Assimilation and Downscaling of Remotely-Sensed Satellite Precipitation and Soil Moisture Data for Hydrologic Applications |
| Cecil | Daniel | NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | Better Understanding GPM Radiometer Measurements Using Ground-Based Radar |
| Chandrasekar | Chandra V. | Colorado State University | GPM Observations and Precipitation Microphysics: Satellite Algorithm Support, Product Validation, Enhancement, Interpretation, Precipitation Estimation and Applications |
| Chen | Shuyi | University of Miami, Key Biscayne | TRMM-GPM Precipitation Tracking and Water Cycle of the MJO |
| Colle | Brian | State University of New York, Stony Brook | Using OLYMPEX Field Data, Satellite Simulators, and Unique Surface Instrumentation to Improve Cloud Microphysical Parameterizations |
| Del Genio | Anthony | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Analysis of Organized Convection and Synoptic Storms in TRMM-GPM Data and a General Circulation Model |
| Durden | Stephen | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | GPM DPR Algorithm and Product Validation Using APR-2 Field Campaign Data |
| Famiglietti | James | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Precipitation Measurement Mission for Improved Forcing in Hyper-Resolution Land Surface Models |
| Ferraro | Ralph | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NESDIS/ORA | NOAA's Continued Contributions to the Development and Utilization of NASA's GPM Products |
| Field | Robert | Columbia University | Applying NASA Satellite Precipitation Products to Global Fire Prediction: Assimilating GPCP, TRMM and GPM into the Global Fire Weather Database |
| Foufoula-Georgiou | Efi | University of California, Irvine | Advanced Inversion Algorithms for GPM Passive Microwave Retrievals and Multi-Sensor Merging |
| Grecu | Mircea | Morgan State University | Improved Radar Models and Parameterizations for the GPM Combined Algorithm |
| Haddad | Ziad | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Parametrizing the Non-Linear Beam-Filling and the Multiple-Scattering for the GPM Radar, and Assimilating Sounder Observations into WRF |
| Heymsfield | Gerald | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | DPR Algorithm Improvement Using Airborne Radar Measurements |
| Houze | Robert | University of Washington, Seattle | Precipitation Processes over the Globe |
| Huffman | George | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Extending the IMERG Multi-Sensor Level 3 Precipitation Product Across the TRMM-GPM Era |
| Jones | W. Linwood | University of Central Florida | Inter-Satellite Radiometric Calibration (XCAL) for GPM Constellation |
| Kalnay | Eugenia | University of Maryland, College Park | Further Advances on Effective Assimilation of Precipitation with GPM and TRMM |
| Kidd | Christopher | University of Maryland, College Park | A Physically-Based Scheme for the Retrieval of Precipitation from Cross-Track Sensors in the GPM Constellation |
| Kim | Min-Jeong | Morgan State University | All-Sky GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) Radiance Data Assimilation Global Products from the GEOS-5 System in Support of the GPM Mission |
| Kirschbaum | Dalia | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | A Regional Analysis Framework for Evaluating Satellite Rainfall Extremes in Complex Terrain for Landslide Hazards Applications |
| Kirstetter | Pierre-Emmanuel | University of Oklahoma, Norman | A Research Framework to Bridge the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Level II and Level III using Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor (MRMS) |
| Krishnamurti | Tiruvalam | Florida State University | Two Decades of Variability in the Life Cycle of Asian Summer Monsoon Seasons as Seen from TRMM/GPM |
| Kulie | Mark | University of Wisconsin, Madison | Snowfall in the GPM Era: Assessing GPM Snowfall and Ice Microphysical Retrievals Using Independent Spaceborne and Ground-Based Observations |
| Kummerow | Christian | Colorado State University | Entraining Large Scale Environmental Information to Improve the GMI Rainfall Product |
| Kuo | Kwo-Sen | University of Maryland, College Park | Improved and Augmented Database of Hydrometeor Single-Scattering Properties to Support Algorithm Development |
| Lau | William | University of Maryland, College Park | Organization of Tropical Convection and Relationship with Extreme Precipitation Events |
| Li | Xiaowen | Morgan State University | Constraining the Ice-Particle Collection Efficiency Using TRMM/GPM Observations, Field Campaign Data, and Cloud Models with Explicit Bin Microphysics |
| Liao | Liang | Morgan State University | Rain and Snow Particle Size Distribution Models and Their Application to the DPR Retrieval Algorithm |
| Liu | Chuntao | Texas A&M, Corpus Christri | Validation of GPM Precipitation Retrievals Under Different Precipitation Regimes Using Precipitation Features and Ground Validation (GV) Observations |
| Liu | Guosheng | Florida State University | Building Algorithm Components for GPM Snowfall Retrieval |
| Liu | W. Timothy | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Oceanic and Terrestrial Rainfall Linkage in Global Water Balance |
| Mace | Gerald | University of Utah, Salt Lake City | The Effects of Ice Crystal Population Properties on Radar-Radiometer Retrievals of Precipitation Processes in Stratiform Clouds |
| McKague | Darren | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | Intercalibration of the GPM Constellation Radiometers: Constellation Monitoring, Anomaly Resolution, and Uncertainty Quantification |
| Meneghini | Robert | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Path Attenuation Estimates from the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar |
| Munchak | Stephen | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Improved Representation of Active and Passive Surface Characteristics in the GPM DPR-GMI Combined Precipitation Algorithm |
| Naud | Catherine | Columbia University | Analysis of GPM Observations to Improve our Understanding of Midlatitude Precipitation: a Process-Oriented Study of Extratropical Cyclones |
| Nesbitt | Stephen | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | Impact of a Priori Assumptions on GPM Retrievals |
| Notaros | Branislav | Colorado State University | Toward a More Statistically Robust, Generalized Process Evaluation Framework of Bin and Bulk Microphysics in Winter Precipitation Using NASA GV and GPM-DPR Data |
| Olson | William | University of Maryland Baltimore County | Integration and Testing of Improved Ice and Mixed-Phase Precipitation Models for GPM Combined Radar-Radiometer Retrieval Algorithm Applications |
| Petersen | Walter | NASA Marshall Space Flight Center | Validation of GPM Precipitation Retrieval Algorithms Across the Precipitation Continuum |
| Peters-Lidard | Christa | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Dynamic Emissivity Estimates to Support Physical Precipitation Retrievals for GPM |
| Petty | Grant | University of Wisconsin, Madison | Passive Microwave Retrievals of Precipitation at High Latitudes |
| Rutledge | Steven | Colorado State University | Radar Studies of Convection in Support of PMM |
| Schreck | Carl | North Carolina State University | Multiscale Interactions Between the MJO, Equatorial Waves, and the Diurnal Cycle over the Maritime Continent |
| Schumacher | Courtney | Texas A & M, College Station | From the Tropics to the Midlatitudes: A Seamless Analysis of Convective and Stratiform Rain and Latent Heating Using GPM |
| Shepherd | James | University of Georgia, Athens | The Energy-Water-Food Nexus Within the Backdrop of an Urbanized Globe: How Can GPM Help? |
| Soden | Brian | University of Miami, Key Biscayne | A New Method for Statistical Downscaling of Precipitation and Application to South Florida Water Management |
| Tanelli | Simone | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Enhanced Algorithms for the Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar |
| Tao | Wei-Kuo | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | Advancing the Retrieval of Latent Heating for PMM with Improved Simulations of Convective, Synoptic, and Cold Season Systems and Their Associated Microphysical and Precipitation Processes |
| Turk | Francis | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Enhancements to GPM Radiometer-Based Precipitation Estimates Under a Variety of Surface and Atmospheric Conditions |
| Williams | Christopher | University of Colorado, Boulder | Quantifying Melting Layer Attenuation and DSD Variability Within DPR Instantaneous Field-of-Views and Evaluating their Impact on DPR Observations and Retrieval Algorithms |
| Wong | Sun | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | Connecting Precipitation to Clouds and the Large-Scale Circulation by Atmospheric Processes: Water-Budget Oriented Analyses |
| Wood | Norman | University of Wisconsin, Madison | Assessing Precipitation Microphysical Structure Aloft Using Cold-Season Ground Validation Observations |
| Wu | Huan | University of Maryland, College Park | Improved Global Flood Monitoring and Forecasting with GPM Precipitation and Hydrological Models |
| Zeng | Xiping | US Army Research Laboratory | Using GPM Data to Examine the Effects of Cloud Dynamics on Microphysics |
| Zhang | Fuqing | Pennsylvania State University | Improving Weather Prediction and Precipitation Estimation Through Advanced Ensemble Assimilation Using GPM Microwave Brightness Temperature with Coherent Microphysics Parameterization and Radiative Transfer Models |
PMM Principal Investigators funded under NASA Internal Work Packages
GPM Algorithm Work Packages (Jan 2018 Summary)
NASA Headquarters has authorized a new funding strategy called "Work Packages" whereby key Principal Investigators at NASA centers who are repeatedly funded under ROSES calls are preselected outside of the ROSES call. This is a listing of the approved Work Package Principal Investigators and their topics for the 10th PMM ROSES Science Team (nominally 2018-2020).
| Principal Investigator | Title | Task Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Cecil, Daniel | Better Understanding GPM Radiometer Measurements Using Ground-Based Radar | GPM, TRMM and related satellites have observed a huge number of precipitating systems around the globe. Pairing high-quality ground-based radar data with coincident satellite observations helps us learn to better interpret the satellite data, and to apply that understanding to satellite observations from otherwise data-sparse regions. This work aims to (a) improve understanding of how different hydrometeor types (and their vertical profiles and amounts) relate to observed satellite measurements; (b) investigate precipitation retrieval quality (error characteristics and biases) associated with particular hydrometeor types or profiles; (c) investigate characteristics of precipitation systems (and their related weather and climate patterns) around the globe. Click here for more info. |
| Huffman, George | Extending the IMERG Multi-Sensor Level 3 Precipitation Product into Polar Regions |
Comprehensive science algorithm development, implementation, maintenance, and validation, including user support, for quasi-global combined-satellite precipitation estimates at fine time/space scales, both in near-real and post-real time. This work includes extending the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) to polar regions. |
| Meneghini, Robert | Path Attenuation Estimates from the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar |
Development, scientific enhancement and validation of the Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) Surface Reference Technique (SRT) will be pursued by extending the dual-frequency version of the method (DSRT) to the new proposed scan geometry. In addition, hybrid path attenuation estimates will be formulated by merging the SRT with the the Hitschfeld-Bordan (HB) method of attenuation correction, which performs well at light rain rates. Tests of the performance of the hybrid estimates will be done by adding new code and new output variables to existing operational codes. |
| Munchak, Stephen | Improved Representation of Active and Passive Surface Characteristics in the GPM DPR-GMI Combined Precipitation Algorithm |
Continue to improve representation of surface properties through physical and statistical models that account for correlated properties of emissivity and radar backscatter in the CORRA forward model. Integrate retrievals of surface and atmospheric state (including ocean surface wind, land emissivity, water vapor, clouds, and light precipitation) in regions where DPR does not detect precipitation. |
| Olson, William | Continued Development and Validation of Ice- and Mixed-Phase Precipitation Models for the GPM Combined Radar-Radiometer Algorithm |
The overall effort is aimed at the development, delivery, maintenance, and validation of the Combined Radar-Radiometer Algorithm (CORRA) by improving the physical parameterizations of precipitation in all phases. The science emphasis will be on the further exploitation of non-spherical ice and mixed-phase precipitation particle models, as well as particle size/habit distribution evolution simulations, to support improved descriptions of the bulk radiative properties of these precipitation types in the algorithm. Precipitation phase transitions in stratiform, convective, and near-convective regimes will be addressed. Validation of particle models will employ airborne remote sensing and in situ data from recent field campaigns, as well as GPM DPR-GMI data and coincident ground observations. |
| Petersen, Walter | Validation of GPM Precipitation Retrieval Algorithms across the Precipitation Continuum |
Existing GPM-GV field and Validation Network datasets collected in warm and cold-season regimes are used to relate 3-D precipitation character and process variability to GPM retrieval algorithm constraints and performance. GV polarimetric radar and disdrometer-derived quantities of precipitation rate/content, type (rain, snow, convective, stratiform), and size distribution are processed and analyzed to relate dominant inter- and intra-footprint scale precipitation process/parameter variability to performance and improvement of key GPM algorithm components including path integrated attenuation, non uniform beam filling, retrieval of the rain drop size distribution, and estimation of rain and snow water-equivalent rates. |
| Peters-Lidard, Christa | Dynamic Emissivity Estimates to Support Physical Precipitation Retrievals for GPM (continued) |
This work will provide dynamic emissivity estimates over land surfaces to support physical precipitation retrievals for GPM. The dynamic emissivity approaches include physical variables such as leaf area index and soil moisture as well as empirical combinations of channel brightness temperatures, including their time variations. These global emissivity estimates are to be integrated and tested within the GMI GPROF algorithm. |
| Tao, Wei-Kuo | Advancing the Retrieval of Latent Heating for PMM with Improved Simulations of Convective, Synoptic, and Cold Season Systems and their Associated Microphysical and Precipitation Processes |
This work includes improving simulations/models for a wide range of precipitating cloud systems, from weak, unorganized isolated rain showers to intense mesoscale convective precipitation systems to large-scale synoptic snow storms, and their associated precipitation structures, latent heat release profiles and cloud microphysical processes. Data from GPM field campaigns will be used to validate and improve the microphysical processes in the high-resolution numerical models. Consequently, this work also expands and improves the performance of the Goddard Convective-Stratiform Heating (CSH) algorithm for the TRMM and GPM eras by using the improved model simulated latent heating, radiation and surface rain/snowfall data. |
PMM / GPM International Collaborator Team
Leveraging of GPM international partner research activities and infrastructure enables coordinated global precipitation remote sensing research and ground validation activities to be conducted. Here “global” refers to both geography and precipitation regime- enabling gap-filling observations and complementary research to more completely validate satellite observations around the globe. Within this framework specific collaborations between PMM Science Team investigators, GPM GV, and international partners have been sought. Currently active * collaborations are outlined in the below table.
| Country | Investigators | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | P. Salio | Ground validation of in a sub-tropical convective precipitation environment |
| Australia | P. May, A. Protat | Land/Sea-based direct GV, precipitation process studies and field measurements in the southern hemisphere tropics and mid-latitudes |
| Austria | J. Fuchsberger, G. Kirchenghast, S. O | Ground validation and rain variability in the mid-latitudes using the dense WegenerNet network |
| Belgium | S. Lhermitte | Snow process studies and measurement, Antarctica |
| Brazil | L. Machado, D. Vila, C. Angelis | Ground validation and storm system process studies in the tropics/sub-tropics, field measurements |
| Canada | D. Hudak, P. Joe (WMO) | Ground validation, snow process studies and field measurements in the mid and high-latitudes |
| Colombia | G. Poveda | Validation of the TRMM and GPM precipitation products using information from raingauges in Colombia |
| European Union (ECMWF) | P. Bauer, A. Geer | GPM data for model data assimilation |
| Finland | A.-M. Harri, D. Moisseev, A. von Lerber | Ground validation, snow process studies and field measurements, High-Latitudes |
| France | R. Roca, N. Viltard, F. Aires | Megha Tropiques Mission, data and algorithms, global land surface emission (Aires) |
| France | G. Delrieu | Cooperation in the Hydrological Cycle Mediterranean Experiment |
| Italy | G. Pannegrossi, V. Levizzani (IPWG), L. Baldina, S. Puca, G. Vulpiani | HSAF precipitation retrieval algorithms, ground-validation, GV radar calibration/measurement practices, mid-latitude Mediterranean region |
| Korea | G. Ryu, G. Lee, S. Joo | Ground validation, precipitation process studies and field measurement (rain, orographic snow), mid-latitudes land/sea. |
| Korea | KD. Ahn, G. Lee and S. Joo | ICE-POP collaboration in study of winter precipitation |
|
Netherlands |
H. Leijnse (KNMI), R. Uijlenhoet | Validation of Satellite Based Precipitation Estimates in the Netherlands |
| Portugal | Vasco Mantas | Ground validation, ecologic applications, dissemination tools. |
| Spain | F. Tapiador | Ground Validation, precipitation character and variability, field measurements, mid-latitudes |
| Switzerland | A. Berne | Ground validation, precipitation field measurements, Alpine orographic snow processes, mid-latitudes |
| United Kingdom | A. Battaglia | Active/passive radiative modeling, multiple scattering processes, field measurements, physical ground-validation |
| United Kingdom | J. Crosier | GPM Validation in the United Kingdom |
* Note: The formal list of collaborators is dynamic, often a function of partner funding status and guided research focus.