Title: Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission Remote Sensing Specifications and Applications
1Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) and
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission
Remote Sensing Specifications and Applications
2TRMM Background
- Joint mission between NASA and JAXA
- Launched on November 27, 1997 from Tanegashima,
Japan - Monitors rainfall in the tropics
- Part of the NASA Mission to Planet Earth
3TRMM Specifications
- Orbit 350 km
- Inclination Angle 35
- Non-sun-synchronous
- Revisit Frequency 11-12 hours
- Track Speed 6.9 km/s
- Area covered 35N to 35S
Reference TRMM 2009
4Instruments on Board
- TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI)
- Precipitation Radar (PR)
- Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS)
- Cloud and Earths Radiant Energy System (CERES)
- Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS)
5TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI)
- 9-channel passive microwave radiometer
- Frequencies 10.65, 19.35, 21.3, 37, 85.5 GHz
- Horizontal and vertical polarizations
- Reads rainfall, water vapor, and cloud water
- Scan Geometry
- Swath 758.5 km
- Off-nadir 52.8 Incident Angle
- Conical Scan 130
6Scan Geometry of TMI
Reference Kummerow et al 1998
7Precipitation Radar (PR)
- Active Rain Radar
- Frequency 13.8 GHz
- Scan Geometry
- Nadir
- Spatial Resolution 4.3 km
- Range Resolution 250 m
- Swath 215 km
8Scan Geometry of PR
Reference Kummerow et al 1998
9Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS)
- 5-channel visible and infrared passive radiometer
- Wavelengths 0.6-12µm
- Reads brightness and temperature
- Scan Geometry
- Swath 720 km
- IFOV 2.11 km nadir
- Radiometric Properties
- Channels 1 and 2 read solar energy
- Channels 3-5 read thermal energy
10Scan Geometry of VIRS
Reference Kummerow et al 1998
11GPM Background
- Joint mission between NASA and JAXA
- Scheduled to launch on July 21, 2013
- Monitors rainfall for the entire globe
- Part of the NASA Mission to Planet Earth
Reference GPM 2009
12GPM Specifications
- Orbit 407 km
- Inclination Angle 65
- Non-sun-synchronous
- Revisit Frequency 3 hours
- Track Speed 7.2 km/s
- Area covered Entire globe
13GPM Microwave Imager (GMI)
- 13-channel passive microwave radiometer
- Frequencies 10-183 GHz
- Horizontal and vertical polarizations
- New high frequency channels to improve ice and
snow measurements - Reads rainfall, water vapor, cloud water, ice and
snow - Scan Geometry
- Swath 885 km
- Off-nadir 52.8 Incident Angle
- Conical Scan 140
14Scan Geometry of GMI
Reference GPM 2009
15Dual Frequency Radar (DFR)
- Active Rain Radar operating at two frequencies
- Frequency 13.8 GHz (KuPR)
- Scan Geometry
- Nadir
- Spatial Resolution 5 km
- Range Resolution 250 m
- Swath 215 km
- Frequency 35.5 GHz (KaPR)
- Scan Geometry
- Nadir
- Spatial Resolution 5 km
- Range Resolution 250 -500 m
- Swath 245 km
16Scan Geometry of DFR
Reference GPM 2009
17TRMM vs. GPM
TRMM vs. GPM TRMM vs. GPM Â Â
General TRMM GPM
 Orbit Altitude 350 km 407 km
 Inclination Angle 35 65
 Revisit Frequency 11-12 hrs 3hrs
 Track Speed 6.9 km/s 7.2 km/s
 Coverage Tropics Global
Microwave Imager Microwave Imager Â
 Swath 758.5 km 885 km
 Incident Angle 52.8 52.8
 Number of Channels 9 13
Precipitation Radar Precipitation Radar Â
 Swath 215 km 245 km
 Number of Channels 1 2
 Spatial Resolution 4.3 km 5 km
 Range Resolution 250 m 250, 500 m
18Applications
- Precipitation Monitoring
- Flood and Landslide Potential
- Global Climatology
- Tropical Storm Monitoring
- Fire Detection
19Precipitation Monitoring
Reference TRMM 2009
20Flood Potential
Reference TRMM 2009
21Landslide Potential
Reference TRMM 2009
22Tropical Storm Monitoring
Reference TRMM 2009
23Fire Monitoring
Reference TRMM 2009
24Conclusions
- TRMM data greatly expanded knowledge of global
hydrology - Errors associated with TRMM data
- GPM will provide more accurate rainfall data with
better technology
25References
- Adler, R.F. Estimating the Benefit of TRMM
Tropical Cyclone Data in Saving Lives. American
Meteorological Society, 15th Conference on
Applied Climatology,Savannah, GA, 20-24 June 2005 - Â
- Bidwell, S.W. et al. The Global Precipitation
Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI)
Instrument Role, Performance and Status. IGARSS
2005. Seoul, Korea, July 25-29, 2005. - Â
- Giglio, L. et al (2003). A multi-year active
fire dataset for the tropics derived from the
TRMM VIRS. International Journal of Remote
Sensing. Vol. 24, No. 22, 45054525 - Â
- GPM. NASA. 22 Sept 2009. http//gpm.gsfc.nasa.gov/
. - Â
- Hong, Y., R. Adler, and G. Huffman (2006),
Evaluation of the potential of NASA
multisatellite precipitation analysis in global
landslide hazard assessment, Geophys. Res. Lett.,
33, L22402, doi10.1029/2006GL028010. - Â
- Kummerow, Christian et al. The Tropical Rainfall
Measurement Mission (TRMM) Sensor Package.
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology.
Volume 15 (June 1998). 809-817 - Â
- TRMM. 22 Sept 2009. NASA. 22 Sept 2009.
http//trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/.