Contributions of TRMM to Our Understanding of Precipitation Processes and Climate Variability

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), a joint U.S./Japan effort, has completed seven and a half years in orbit. This successful research mission studying precipitation processes and climatology has also become a key element in the routine monitoring of global precipitation. The package of rain measuring instrumentation, including the first rain radar and microwave radiometer combination in space, continues to function perfectly, and the satellite has the capability to operate for a number of additional years, providing a unique, long-term record of global tropical precipitation characteristics. A summary of research highlights will be presented covering topics ranging over climate analysis, improving forecasts, and storm and precipitation processes. A focus of the talk will be the important role of TRMM data in multi-satellite precipitation analyses at fine time scales and in improving our understanding of the validity of climate-scale variations through comparison with, and eventual improvement of, the GEWEX Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) 25-year data set.