NASA and Japan’s space agency announce launch date for global precipitation satellite

Washington – NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are planning to launch a new satellite at 1:07 pm to 3:07 pm EST, Feb. 27, from JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center.

GPM is an international satellite mission that will provide advanced observations of rain and snowfall worldwide, several times a day to enhance our understanding of the water and energy cycles that drive Earth’s climate.

The data provided by the Core Observatory will be used to calibrate precipitation measurements made by an international network of partner satellites to quantify when, where, and how much it rains or snows around the world.

Michael Freilich, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division in Washington, said that launching this core observatory and establishing the Global Precipitation Measurement mission is vitally important for environmental research and weather forecasting.

He said that knowing rain and snow amounts accurately over the whole globe is critical to understanding how weather and climate impact agriculture, fresh water availability, and responses to natural disasters.

Shizuo Yamamoto, executive director of JAXA, said that they will use data from the GPM mission not only for Earth science research but to improve weather forecasting and respond to meteorological disasters.

Yamamoto said that they would also like to aid other countries in the Asian region suffering from flood disasters by providing data for flood alert systems, adding that their dual-frequency precipitation radar, developed with unique Japanese technologies, plays a central role in the GPM mission.