Other Names
Rain Rate, Rainfall, Precip. Rate
Definition
The amount of precipitation that is collected over a specific time period; usually measured in inches/hour or millimeters/hour.
Precipitation is all liquid or solid phase aqueous particles that originate in the atmosphere and fall to the earth's surface. The amount, usually expressed in millimeters or inches of liquid water depth, of the water substance that has fallen at a given point over a specified period of time. As this is usually measured in a fixed rain gauge, small amounts of dew, frost, rime, etc., may be included in the total. The more common term rainfall is also used in this total sense to include not only amounts of rain, but also the water equivalents of frozen precipitation. For obvious reasons, precipitation is the preferred general term.
Applications
| (1) Global energy budget | (6) Agriculture |
| (2) Global and regional water balance | (7) Industry |
| (3) Climate change | (8) Drought and flood |
| (4) Global warming | (9) Aerosol wet deposition |
| (5) Health and Environment | (10) Acid rain |
Platforms and Sensors
| Aqua | AIRS/AMSU |
| TRMM | VIRS | 0.3, 1.6, 3,75, 10.8 and 12 micrometer |
| TRMM | TMI | Dual polarization: 10.65, 19.35, 37, and 85.5 GHz Vertical polarization: 21 GHz |
| TRMM | PR | Vertical polarization: 13.8 GHz |
GES DISC Datasets
Other sources for data