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Advances in Global Water Cycle Science Made Possible by Global Precipitation Mission (GPM)Within this decade the internationally sponsored Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) will take an important step in creating a global precipitation observing system from space. One perspective for understanding the nature of GPM is that it will be a hierarchical system of datastreams from very high caliber combined dual frequency radar/passive microwave (PMW) rain-radiometer retrievals, to high caliber PMW rain-radiometer only retrievals, and on to blends of the former datastreams with other less-high caliber PMW-based and IR-based rain retrievals. Within the context of NASA's role in global water cycle science and its own Global Water & Energy Cycle (GWEC) program, GPM is the centerpiece mission for improving our understanding of the global water cycle from a space-based measurement perspective. One of the salient problems within our current understanding of the global water and energy cycle is determining whether a change in the rate of the water cycle is accompanying changes in global temperature. As there are a number of ways in which to define a rate-change of the global water cycle, it is not entirely clear as to what constitutes such a determination, This paper presents an overview of the Global Precipitation Mission and how its datasets can be used in a set of quantitative tests within the framework of the oceanic and continental water budget equations to determine comprehensively whether substantive rate changes do accompany perturbations in global temperatures and how such rate changes manifest themselves in both water storage and water flux transport processes.
Document ID
20020023964
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Smith, Eric A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Starr, David OC.
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2001
Subject Category
Environment Pollution
Meeting Information
Meeting: AMS 11th Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography
Location: Madison, WI
Country: United States
Start Date: October 15, 2001
End Date: October 18, 2001
Sponsors: American Meteorological Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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