TRMM Realtime Data Production, Transfer, and Future Plans

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, a joint US NASA and Japan NASDA mission, was launched on November 27, 1997 from Tanegashima Island, Japan on a NASDA provided H-II launch vehicle. The TRMM objectives are: to obtain and study multi-year science data sets of tropical and sub- tropical rainfall measurement; to understand how interactions between the sea, air, and land masses produce changes in global rainfall and climate; to help improve modeling of tropical rainfall processes; to test, evaluate, and improve the performance of satellite rainfall estimates measurements and techniques. The routine production and quick distribution of standard products provides an important underpinning to these objectives. The determination of standard TRMM algorithms and the requirements for routine production and distribution fall within the authority of the joint US-Japan Science Team. In April of 1998, the Joint TRMM Science team requested that TRMM data be made available in near real-time to approved international agencies and modelers. This request was an addition to the routine production of the standard TRMM data products. The science team requested that near-realtime products be as small as possible to facilitate their transfer via networks. Indeed, it was determined that only network transfer would be available. This presentation provides an overview of the type of products available from the realtime system and how the TRMM system was developed at the lowest cost in the shortest amount of time. It then describes the real-time data flow. The presentation also summarizes how the science quality of real-time data is maintained. It describes how interested groups can get access to this data and the importance of networks for the future of real-time data expansion. The presentation concludes real-time possibilities and improvements possible as part of the proposed Global Precipitation Mission. High speed network access availability is an important catalyst to real-time data flow during the proposed mission.