[Reporter] NASA is unveiling a new global portrait and here to show us what this portrait looks like and tell us more about what it all means is Dr. Dalia Kirschbaum from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, thanks for joining us. [Dr. Kirschbaum] Thanks for having me. [Reporter] So this new global view is very compelling, what makes this map so special? [Dr. Kirschbaum] Well typically what you see on TV is either a radar image from the ground showing local rain fall or you see a satellite showing the tops of clouds. The Global Precipitation Mission or GPM can actually see through the clouds. and it provides a global picture with the help of a constellation satellites, both domestic and international. What this does provides this global picture of rain and snow every where around the world every 30 minutes. [Reporter] So can you take us on tour and show us some of the surprising things you've seen. [Dr. Kirschbaum] Sure in just one week in August of 2014 we saw some pretty impressive precipitation around the world. You know the first we saw in the Pacific we see these storms lining up and what you see here is Hurricane Iselle hitting Hawaii, the first in 22 years. Further south in the Amazon you can see this kind of popcorn convection as well as squall lines, which is very important for feeding largest river on Earth, the Amazon river. Even Further south you can look at the southern oceans, these huge storm systems spiraling around an area of really rough weather and very observations on the ground. [Reporter] I understand that this is the first satellite to measure falling snow. Can you show us a resent snow storm? [Dr. Kirschbaum] Sure absolutely, I think one of the important things to know is that GPM has advance instruments to measure everything from liquid to solid precipitation. So for example if you look at a tropical event like Arthur, Hurricane Arthur which affected the east coast in July of 2014, you can see heavy rain in the reds but you also see blue's and purple's as snow at the top. What is interesting when it's cold at the surface you can actually see falling snow from GPM. [Reporter] I understand there's a lot interesting activity over the oceans last week, can you show us some of the things you saw? [Dr. Kirschbaum] Sure, It's quite interesting actually. Super Tyhpoon Maysak was the 5th storm to occur before April 1st. So it's pretty notable and right now it's spinning the Pacific causing some has a potential to hit the Philippines pretty soon. You can also see some squall lines moving across the U.S. and also coming all the way across the Atlantic and affecting the U.K. and other parts of Europe causing extensive damage both from wind and flooding. [Reporter] How are forecasters and emergency managers using this global view? [Dr. Kirschbaum] Well knowing where, when and how much it's raining and snowing is really vital for understanding where we might have extreme events like landslides and even floods. GPM provides real time data to emergency responders and forecasters. This is an example of Super Typhoon Halong and this visualizing shows accumulations and the dark reds are heavy rain fall. This affected Japan and caused extensive flooding. Now GPM data will help to improve models both of our weather today and our climate in the future. [Reporter] Tell us where can we learn more about this mission. [Dr. Kirschbaum] Well this is a really exciting time for Earth science at NASA since February launched 5 missions. To learn more about this, please go to nasa.gov/earthrightnow [Reporter] Great, thanks so much for joining us. [Dr. Kirschbaum] Thanks for having me.