| GPM "THE PROMISE OF RAIN"
| G01-037 | 05/16/01 | 00:08:03 | The value of understanding how precipitation affects climate and weather cannot be overstated. Precipitation is responsible for releasing energy into the atmosphere and it's a vital link in the Earth's water cycle. Rain, snow, humidity, and other precipitation conditions offer clues to the current and changing nature of the world's climate. Further, changes in precipitation patterns one place on Earth can have profound impacts elsewhere. It's therefore incumbent on the global scientific community to understand it better. To this end, NASA and NASDA, the Japanese Space Agency, undertook the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission in the 1990s. A dedicated spacecraft and monitoring system, TRMM provided unprecedented insight into the workings of rainfall and climate interactions. Based on the efforts of that highly successful project, experts in the United States and Japan are planning for the future. Enter GPM. Global Precipitation Measurement is far more than a continuation of TRMM. Its goals include a vastly increased geographic scale of precipitation detection and significantly improved analytic capabilities. Unlike the TRMM project, which could only detect precipitation in tropical latitudes, GPM will be able to observe precipitation conditions over a vast majority of the Earth's surface. What's more, GPM will be able to gather world wide precipitation data at a temporal scale greatly improved as compared to TRMM. These advances will be made possible by a dramatically new way of staging a remote sensing mission. Instead of a single advanced spacecraft looking at the Earth, GPM will include a sophisticated fleet of orbiting instruments. A principal core vehicle will carry advanced monitoring equipment, while as many as ten additional precipitation sensors onboard other satellites will gather wide scale information around the world. Multiple platforms mean that more of the Earth can be seen at once, thus increasing the temporal resolution of precipitation events. Additionally, a worldwide network of ground stations will help researchers monitor and validate satellite data. This multinational network will afford unique research tools for climatologists at both local and global scales, as well as exciting educational opportunities for primary school, college, and graduate students around the world.
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