A Drought Monitoring Satellite Preps For Launch

A new NASA satellite looks to predict and possibly help prevent drought by monitoring global precipitation.

drought, satellite, storm, climate, NASA, JAXA, science, weather, water, precipitationLater this month scientists and climatologists the world over will gain greater insight into storms and their resultant precipitation when a new weather satellite makes it to orbit.

Named the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory (GPM), the massive meteorological machine began its life back in 2005 as a joint venture between the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) and NASA.

Armed with a microwave imager to detect snow and rainfall and a dual frequency radar that can stratify and examine cloud layers, the GPM is by far the most advanced active weather monitoring satellite ever created. In addition to its hardware, the satellite carries an advanced sensor suite that will allow it to monitor light rain and snow in real time, a capability no previous weather satellite has had.

Set to launch on February 27 from the Tanegashima Space Centre off the southern coast of Japan, the GSM will orbit some 407 km (253 miles) above Earth. Perched above the equator, the satellite will be able to view a band of the planet that extends from the Artic to the Antarctic Circle. Travelling around the planet at a blistering pace, the GPM will be able to map the world’s weather every 2-3 hours.

Once safely in orbit, the GPM will begin calibrating and testing its instruments and researchers expect to begin receiving data 60 days after launch. With the information they collect scientists hope to gain a better grasp of global precipitation totals, possibly leading to improved water management and drought prediction techniques.

Image and Video Courtesy of NASA