NASA | Water for Tea: Part I

View "Water for Tea: Part II" at:One of the critical components of the Earth's hydrological cycle is precipitation. Rainfall is essential for providing the fresh water that sustains life. Water cycling and the future availability of fresh water resources are immense societal concerns that impact every nation on Earth. In many respects, precipitation is truly the centerpiece of our planet's hydrological cycle, and understanding it is crucial to unraveling many of the uncertainties about Earth's climate. But, we cannot understand the water and energy cycle or predict weather and climate without an accurate knowledge of the intensity and distribution of global precipitation. Measurement of various aspects of precipitation represents one of the most challenging research problems in Earth science. The concept of Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) is NASA's response to the need for accurate global precipitation measurement. In many respects, precipitation is truly the centerpiece of our planet's hydrological cycle, and understanding it is crucial to unraveling many of the uncertainties about Earth's climate.