GPM Satellite

At the start of the modern passive microwave age, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) was designed to give an Earth Incidence angle (EIA) around 53°. The design parameters for SSMI were generated by Jim Hollinger, at NRL at the time, and meant to address several Earth science variables, not just precipitation. For EIAs around 53°, the roughness component of the wind speed signal is nearly zero in vertical polarization.

The primary GPM instruments are the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) (active remote sensor) and GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) (passive remote sensor).

The GPM Core Observatory satellite carries two instruments (the GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR)) that measure properties of precipitation from space using a combination of active and passive remote-sensing techniques.

The GPM Core Observatory or GPM CO is the name of the GPM’s satellite that carries the two instruments onboard, the GPM Microwave Imager and the Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar, which measure properties of precipitation from space.

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