[ off camera ] “Everyone is familiar with rain. It literally falls in our backyard, but
did you know there’s actually a lot we really still don’t know about
rain and snowfall. NASA’s getting ready to launch a new mission that’s going
to measure both rain and snow all around the world here
to tell us a little bit more about this new mission is Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum
here to tell us a little bit more about this new mission is Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum
from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Thanks for joining us.” [ Kirschbaum ] “Thanks for having me.”
[ off camera ] “So in a couple of hours NASA is going to launch a new satellite
that’s going to measure rain and snowfall all around the world. What’s so special about this mission?”
[ Kirschbaum ] “Well we’re really excited about the GPM core observatory.
The Global Precipitation Measurement mission is actually co-led by NASA and JAXA
and it’s going to provide the most advanced instruments we’ve ever had to measure
everything from light rain to heavy rain and snow.
But in addition to this core satellite, it’s going to be the flagship for an international satellite
constellation that together will give us a global picture of rain and
snow everywhere in the world, every three hours.”
[ off camera ] “Why do we need to measure precipitation from space?” [Kirschbaum] “It’s really
important to measure precipitation and get a global picture of what’s happening. We want
to know what’s happening in our backyards, but it’s equally as important to know where our weather is coming from
or what’s happening around the other side of the world. Now rain gauges
can give us information of a specific point. But if you actually take all of the rain gauges in the
world they only fit into two basketball courts. Radar are a little bit better.
Radar gives you a broader coverage, but there are a lot of areas around the world where we have
no coverage at all like over the oceans or developing countries. And so having
that vantage point of space gives us a lot of power and understanding
how precipitation is moving or changing and how that may be changing
in a changing climate.” [ off camera ] “How will GPM improve monitoring
for hazards like hurricanes and floods?” [ Kirschbaum ] “Well GPM has some pretty
amazing tools that can let us look three-dimensionally through storms
with a dual frequency radar. And so layer-by-layer
we can get a sense of what’s happening in the clouds and what’s happening with the precipitation.
The other satellite instrument is sort of like an X-ray
whereas the radar is like a CAT Scan. And together these two instruments can diagnose
what’s happening. So if you look at Hurricane Katrina for example, you see these big
red spikes which are hot towers, these huge convective towers.
And so having this information from a three dimensional perspective gives us
critical clues into understanding how a storm is intensifying and where
it might be moving. And so for weather forecasters and hurricane modelers, they
use that information to get a sense of where to make evacuations
and how to better understand the dynamics of these storms.”
[ off camera ] “Why is it important to study rain and snowfall in a changing climate?”
[ Kirschbaum ] “Well knowing where, when and how much it’s raining or snowing is so important
for everything for understanding extreme events like floods. If you look at floods we
need to know. You know everywhere in the world there’s a flood at least once a day.
And so floods and their counterpart landslides are
caused by extreme precipitation. On the flip side looking at drought.
And the most important thing is to look at how our weather is changing every
day and how that changes in a changing climate. So we need to look
from day to day scale all the way to what’s happening far into the future.”
[ off camera ] “Where can we learn more?” [Kirschbaum] “You can learn more at
NASA.GOV/GPM where we have a whole host of animations and visualizations
that tell us about this exciting mission coming up.”
[ off camera ] “Thanks so much for joining us.” [Kirschbaum] “Thanks for having me.”