Plans for IMERG V08 and Future Perspectives for Global Satellite Precipitation

The Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) dataset is computed by the U.S. Science Team of the NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission.  It provides global satellite precipitation estimates for a wide range of scientific research and societal applications.  Using a constellation of low-Earth orbit passive microwave and geosynchronous-orbit infrared satellites of opportunity provided by domestic and international partners, IMERG supplies precipitation estimates at high spatial and temporal resolution globally (0.1° every half hour),  Three separate Runs, with increasing latencies, are generated to fit the diverse needs of the scientific and applications communities.  

The presentation focuses on the future of IMERG for the upcoming V08 and thereafter.  This includes issues remaining from V07 development, new issues identified in analysis of the V07 time series, calibration shifts due to the GPM Core Observatory (GPM-CO) orbit boost (and in retrospect the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission [TRMM] orbit boost and the TRMM Precipitation Radar’s A/B electronics switch), the advent of SmallSats capable of observing precipitation, the advent of machine learning algorithms, and priorities stemming from the approaching end of the GPM-CO satellite (circa 2032).  The complete retrospective processing that will accompany the introduction of Version 08 is planned as the last upgrade before the end of mission.

The goal of this work is to continue the progress that the GPM mission and the IMERG products have realized over the past decade, especially over regions with limited ground observations. We emphasize our continuing goal of providing the scientific and applications communities with a long record of reliable high-resolution precipitation observations, and invite discussion on the next generation of sustained observations and algorithms for global satellite precipitation.