NASA to Decommission Weather Satellite
Posted on: Tuesday, 20 July 2004, 06:00 CDT
NASA officials said Monday the agency will decommission the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite later this year.
TRMM has provided data used worldwide in the monitoring and forecasting of hazardous weather. Originally intended to be a three-year mission when it was launched in 1997, TRMM now is in its seventh year of operation and completed all of its research and technology objectives four years ago, NASA officials said.
TRMM is the first mission dedicated to measuring tropical and subtropical rainfall through microwave and visible infrared sensors, including the first spaceborne rain radar. The Precipitation Radar aboard TRMM is the first rain radar ever to be launched into space. It measures precipitation distributions over both land and sea. TRMM has exceeded expectations for accuracy and resolution and has given unprecedented insights into rainfall producing cloud systems over tropical land masses and oceans.
In 1998 TRMM observed Hurricane Bonnie and captured for the first time skyscraper storm clouds towering some 59,000 feet above the ocean -- an event thought by scientists to have represented a precursor to storm intensification.
Related Articles
- TRMM Provides Rainfall Map Of Mirinae's Flooding Rains
- NASA Gets 3-D Look At Neki Becoming Extra-Tropical
- TRMM Satellite Sees Heavy Rainfall In Choi-Wan
- NASA's TRMM Satellite Sees Wide-Eyed Hurricane Bill Strengthening
- Raindrop Size Makes All The Difference
- TRMM Turns Ten - Studying Precipitation from Space
- Long-Term Increase in Rainfall Seen in Tropics
- Sensis Corporation Surface Movement Radar to Enhance Air Traffic Controller Situational Awareness at Vienna International Airport
- NASA Satellites Sample Hurricane Ingredients
- Unique NASA Satellite Watches Rainfall
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds