EOSDIS Data Sampler #3

Top banner for every page of EOSDIS data sampler number 3

Home -- ENSO Cycle -- ENSO Effects -- Missions -- Data -- Tools -- Site Map

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission -- Local TRMM Links -- TRMM Web Links

The TRMM satellite orbits the Earth to collect rainfall data.

TRMM Flight Mission

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is a joint project between the United States and Japan as part of the Earth Observing System (EOS), the centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE). TRMM provides global data on tropical and subtropical rainfall, using microwave (radar) and visible-infrared sensors.

TRMM was launched in November 1997 on a 3-year mission. The satellite has completed 4 years in its initial orbit, and has been successfully raised to a higher orbit for a significant mission extension. This allows TRMM to provide data for study of both past and future ENSO events.

TRMM carries 5 instruments uniquely designed to provide data with unprecedented precision, quality, and scope. The instruments on TRMM observe and measure rainfall, between 35° north and south, monitoring global environmental changes over time. The satellite flies over any one spot at different local times to allow calculation of rain variability over 24 hours. Data from these instruments will be processed into continuous long-term measures concerned with rainfall. The five instruments are

Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) measures the radiation budget and provides estimates of cloud parameters.

Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) is an optical telescope and filter imaging system that will investigate the distribution and variability of both atmospheric and cloud-to-ground lightning.

TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) is a multi-channel radiometer, whose signals in combination can measure rainfall quite accurately over oceans. It also measures sea surface temperature (SST).

Precipitation Radar (PR) determines the vertical distribution of precipitation by measuring the "radar reflectivity" of the cloud systems and the weakening of a signal as it passes through the precipitation, even over land.

Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) observes properties of land, sea, and air in five spectral bands (VIS and IR) to make rough estimates of tropical precipitation.

The instruments on TRMM complement each other with different views of the Earth's atmosphere and its moisture content. The instruments are intended to obtain information in support of TRMM science objectives:

To obtain and study multiyear science datasets of tropical and subtropical rainfall measurements

To understand how interactions between the sea, air, and land masses produce changes in global rainfall and climate

To improve modeling of tropical rainfall processes and their influence on global circulation in order to predict rainfall and variability at various periods of time

To test, evaluate, and improve satellite rainfall measurement techniques.

The use of observations from TRMM's instruments over land and ocean will help in understanding global climate changes of the Earth as a system.

Local TRMM Links

Top of Page

NASA's TRMM instrument data products featured on this CD-ROM
Chart (GIF image) showing spectral bandwidth for each TRMM instrument
NASA's TRMM LIS instrument data products featured on this CD-ROM
NASA's TRMM TMI instrument, MPE product data products featured on this CD-ROM
NASA's TRMM TMI instrument, SST product data products featured on this CD-ROM
NASA's TRMM VIRS instrument data products featured on this CD-ROM

Disclaimer: NASA offers these suggested sites for additional information regarding TRMM. Web access is required to reach these sites. Link existence and contents are not under the control of the EOSDIS Science Operations Office.

TRMM Web Sites

TRMM Home Page: http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/
TRMM Mission Overview: http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/overview_dir/background.html
The TRMM Program: http://www.earth.nasa.gov/history/trmm/
TRMM Web Site (Japan's Earth Observation Research Center): http://www.eorc.nasda.go.jp/TRMM/index_e.htm
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/TRMM/trmm.html

Top of Page