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The GPM Ground Validation Program

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Satellite Precipitation Measurement

Part of the book series: Advances in Global Change Research ((AGLO,volume 69))

Abstract

We present a detailed overview of the structure and activities associated with the NASA-led ground-validation component of the NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The overarching philosophy and approaches for NASA’s GV program are presented with primary focus placed on aspects of direct validation and a summary of physical validation campaigns and results. We describe a spectrum of key instruments, methods, field campaigns and data products developed and used by NASA’s GV team to verify GPM level-2 precipitation products in rain and snow. We describe the tools and analysis framework used to confirm that NASA’s Level-1 science requirements for GPM are met by the GPM Core Observatory. Examples of routine validation activities related to verification of Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) products for two different regions of the globe (Korea and the US) are provided, and a brief analysis related to IMERG performance in the extreme rainfall event associated with Hurricane Florence is discussed.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all our US and international GPM GV partners for their outstanding collaboration in GPM GV research. We specifically acknowledge the Korean Meteorological Administration for provision of RAD-RAR datasets enabling the IMERG validation and analysis discussed in this chapter. The NASA GPM and PMM Programs, specifically, Dr. Ramesh Kakar (retired), Dr. Gail Skofronick-Jackson, and Dr. Scott Braun, are acknowledged for their support of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA

    Walter A. Petersen

  2. School of Meteorology and School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences and Advanced Radar Research Center, University of Oklahoma and NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, OK, USA

    Pierre-Emmanuel Kirstetter

  3. Science Systems Applications International and NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Jianxin Wang

  4. NASA/GSFC, Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA, USA

    David B. Wolff

  5. University of Maryland Baltimore County and NASA, GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Ali Tokay

Authors
  1. Walter A. Petersen
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  2. Pierre-Emmanuel Kirstetter
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  3. Jianxin Wang
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  4. David B. Wolff
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  5. Ali Tokay
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Walter A. Petersen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNR-ISAC, Bologna, Italy

    Vincenzo Levizzani

  2. Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center University of Maryland and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Christopher Kidd

  3. Code 617, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Dalia B. Kirschbaum

  4. Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Christian D. Kummerow

  5. Department of Economics on Sustainability, Dokkyo University, Saitama, Japan

    Kenji Nakamura

  6. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    F. Joseph Turk

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Petersen, W.A., Kirstetter, PE., Wang, J., Wolff, D.B., Tokay, A. (2020). The GPM Ground Validation Program. In: Levizzani, V., Kidd, C., Kirschbaum, D., Kummerow, C., Nakamura, K., Turk, F. (eds) Satellite Precipitation Measurement. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 69. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35798-6_2

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