Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) development

Abstract

Understanding the Earth's climate and how it responds to climate perturbations relies on knowledge of how atmospheric moisture, clouds, latent heating, and the large-scale circulation vary with changing climate conditions. The physical process that links these key climate elements is precipitation. The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission will be key to answering the following related research questions:• How are global precipitation, evaporation, and the cycling of water changing?• How are variations in local weather, precipitation, and water resources related to global climate variation?• How can weather forecast duration and reliability be improved by new space-based observations, data assimilation and modeling?