Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission Remote Sensing Specifications and Applications

1
Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) and
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission
Remote Sensing Specifications and Applications

• Caitlin Moffitt
• CEE 6900

2
TRMM 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

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TRMM 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
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Instruments 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)

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TRMM 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

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Scan Geometry of TMI
Reference Kummerow et al 1998
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Precipitation Radar (PR)

• Active Rain Radar
• Frequency 13.8 GHz
• Scan Geometry
• Nadir
• Spatial Resolution 4.3 km
• Range Resolution 250 m
• Swath 215 km

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Scan Geometry of PR
Reference Kummerow et al 1998
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Visible 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

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Scan Geometry of VIRS
Reference Kummerow et al 1998
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GPM 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
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GPM Specifications

• Orbit 407 km
• Inclination Angle 65
• Non-sun-synchronous
• Revisit Frequency 3 hours
• Track Speed 7.2 km/s
• Area covered Entire globe

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GPM 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

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Scan Geometry of GMI
Reference GPM 2009
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Dual 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

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Scan Geometry of DFR
Reference GPM 2009
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TRMM vs. GPM
TRMM vs. GPM TRMM vs. GPM    
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  
  Swath 758.5 km 885 km
  Incident Angle 52.8 52.8
  Number of Channels 9 13
Precipitation Radar Precipitation Radar  
  Swath 215 km 245 km
  Number of Channels 1 2
  Spatial Resolution 4.3 km 5 km
  Range Resolution 250 m 250, 500 m
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Applications

• Precipitation Monitoring
• Flood and Landslide Potential
• Global Climatology
• Tropical Storm Monitoring
• Fire Detection

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Precipitation Monitoring
Reference TRMM 2009
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Flood Potential
Reference TRMM 2009
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Landslide Potential
Reference TRMM 2009
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Tropical Storm Monitoring
Reference TRMM 2009
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Fire Monitoring
Reference TRMM 2009
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Conclusions

• TRMM data greatly expanded knowledge of global
  hydrology
• Errors associated with TRMM data
• GPM will provide more accurate rainfall data with
  better technology

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References

• 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
•  
• 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.
•  
• 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
•  
• GPM. NASA. 22 Sept 2009. http//gpm.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  .
•  
• 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.
•  
• Kummerow, Christian et al. The Tropical Rainfall
  Measurement Mission (TRMM) Sensor Package.
  Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology.
  Volume 15 (June 1998). 809-817
•  
• TRMM. 22 Sept 2009. NASA. 22 Sept 2009.
  http//trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/.