|
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite captured the image (top) on August 8, 2005. The image shows rain intensity as measured by TRMM’s sensors, with the heaviest rainfall in dark red and lighter rainfall in blue. For instance, a large dark red area of heavy precipitation marks the Bay of Bengal, revealing very high rain rates per hour in an area that does not have any instrumentation for measuring rainfall
The lower image records rainfall accumulations between August 1 and August 8. As in the top image, the dark red area of heavy rainfall (indicating a foot of rain) is concentrated in the Bay of Bengal. Both images show just how localized extreme rainfall can be. For instance, within the Mekong basin, there is an area of high concentration of rainfall in southern Lao PDR, central Viet Nam and NE Cambodia.
The TRMM satellite has been collecting rainfall data since its launch in 1997. It was coming to the end of its projected life in 2005, but the highly successful and unique mission has been extended by NASA to 2009. TRMM's orbit ranges between 35 degrees north and 35 degrees south of the equator, allowing TRMM to fly over tropical locations on the Earth's surface at a different local time each day. The data from this kind of orbit are useful to calculate rain variations over a 24-hour period in near-real time; the resulting satellite data sets are vastly more informative than any conventional rainfall collection method now available.
To see a timeseries clip of the rainfall accumulation click here.
TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov
|
