EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE MAKE PROGRESS

A recent paper appeared on the March issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (link click here) reviewing the status of application of satellite precipitation estimation. The authors conclude that new datasets become available with the launch of new satellites and data on intensity and distribution of precipitation make it possible new scientific discoveries on hydrological, climatic and atmospheric chemical composition issues.

Major applications include flood and landslide prediction, diagnosis of numerical weather prediction and climate models, prediction of the rainfall potential of tropical systems (hurricanes, monsoons), aerosol load monitoring, crop yield planning in developing countries, pests and diseases control and much more.

The International Precipitation Working Group (IPWG,  http://www.isac.cnr.it/~ipwg/) coordinates the precipitation retrieval activities from space ensuring that the global coverage and long term observations are made available for all water-related applications.