Assessment of the Benefits of Extending the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission: A Perspective from the Research and Operations Communities, Interim Report

116 Pages·2006·1.25 MB·English

by  National Research Council, Committee on the Future of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission

ASSESSMENT OF THE BENEFITS OF
EXTENDING THE
TROPICAL RAINFALL
MEASURING MISSION
A PERSPECTIVE FROM THE RESEARCH AND OPERATIONS COMMUNITIES
I N T E R I M R E P O R T
Committee on the Future of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
Division on Earth and Life Studies
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing
Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of
the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Insti-
tute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen
for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
Support for this project was provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administra-
tion under Contract No. NASW-01001. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or rec-
ommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not neces-
sarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the
project.
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COMMITTEE ON THE FUTURE OF THE
TROPICAL RAINFALL MEASURING MISSION (TRMM)
EUGENE RASMUSSON (Chair), University of Maryland (retired), College
Park, Maryland
V. CHANDRASEKAR, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
CAROL ANNE CLAYSON, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
JEFFREY D. HAWKINS, Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, California
KRISTINA B. KATSAROS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (retired), Freeland, Washington
M. PATRICK MCCORMICK, Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia
MATTHIAS STEINER, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
GRAEME L. STEPHENS, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
CHRISTOPHER S. VELDEN, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
RAY A. WILLIAMSON, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
NRC Staff
PAUL CUTLER, Study Director
LEAH PROBST, Research Associate
ROB GREENWAY, Senior Program Assistant
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BOARD ON ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AND CLIMATE
ROBERT J. SERAFIN (Chair), National Center for Atmospheric Research,
Boulder, Colorado
M. JOAN ALEXANDER, NorthWest Research Associates/CORA, Boulder,
Colorado
FREDERICK R. ANDERSON, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP,
Washington, D.C.
MICHAEL L. BENDER, Princeton University, New Jersey
ROSINA M. BIERBAUM, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
MARY ANNE CARROLL, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
CAROL ANNE CLAYSON, Florida State University, Tallahassee
WALTER F. DABBERDT, Vaisala Inc., Boulder, Colorado
KERRY A. EMANUEL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
DENNIS L. HARTMANN, University of Washington, Seattle
PETER R. LEAVITT, Weather Information Inc., Newton, Massachusetts
JENNIFER A. LOGAN, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
VERNON R. MORRIS, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
F. SHERWOOD ROWLAND, University of California, Irvine
THOMAS H. VONDER HAAR, Colorado State University/CIRA, Fort
Collins
ROGER M. WAKIMOTO, National Center for Atmospheric Research,
Boulder, Colorado
Ex Officio Members
ANTONIO J. BUSALACCHI, JR., University of Maryland, College Park
ERIC F. WOOD, Princeton University, New Jersey
NRC Staff
CHRIS ELFRING, Director
PAUL CUTLER, Senior Program Officer
AMANDA STAUDT, Senior Program Officer
IAN KRAUCUNAS, Associate Program Officer
CURTIS MARSHALL, Program Officer
CLAUDIA MENGELT, Associate Program Officer
ELIZABETH A. GALINIS, Research Associate
LEAH PROBST, Research Associate
ROB GREENWAY, Senior Program Assistant
KATIE WELLER, Program Assistant
DIANE GUSTAFSON, Administrative Coordinator
ANDREAS SOHRE, Financial Associate
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Prologue
This report was originally released in December 2004 in prepublication form
as the first report of a two-phase study to be carried out by the same committee.
The first phase was sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-
tration (NASA) and focused on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
(TRMM). The second phase was sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmo-
spheric Administration and focused on the Global Precipitation Measurement
mission. The report of the second phase will be published in a separate volume
in 2006.
A number of significant decisions for TRMM have been made since Decem-
ber 2004. In 2005, NASA approved a waiver of its controlled reentry guidelines
to allow TRMM to operate beyond the minimum fuel point required for a con-
trolled reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. In advance of the 2005 NASA Senior
Review of 12 Earth science missions, NASA’s TRMM team proposed to extend
TRMM.1 NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center was directed to continue TRMM
science operations through fiscal year 2009, and TRMM may be further extend-
ed as a result of a future NASA Senior Review.
As of the publication of this report, the TRMM spacecraft and instruments
are in excellent condition and are fully operational.2 TRMM has enough fuel to
operate until approximately 2012.
June 2006
1The TRMM Senior Review Proposal is available online at http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/trmm_rain/
Events/TRMMSeniorProp_1.pdf [accessed May 11, 2006].
2As mentioned in Chapter 1, Box 1-1, the Clouds and Earth Radiant Energy System instrument
failed shortly after launch. In 2002, one of the two Solar Array Drive Actuators lost sun-tracking
function, leading to slightly less available power for the spacecraft but sufficient power for nominal
operations of all working instruments. For up-to-date TRMM information and operational status,
visit the mission Website at http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov.
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Acknowledgments
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their
diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures ap-
proved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The pur-
pose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that
will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and
to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence,
and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manu-
script remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We
wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Phillip Arkin, University of Maryland, College Park
Peter Bauer, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts,
Reading, Berkshire, UK
Russell Elsberry, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
Roger Pielke, Jr., University of Colorado/CIRES, Boulder
Amanda Preble, Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center,
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Roger Wakimoto, University of California, Los Angeles
Although the reviewers listed above have provided constructive comments
and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the report’s conclusions or
recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release.
The review of this report was overseen by Robert Dickinson, Georgia Institute of
Technology, and Carl Wunsch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Appoint-
ed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain
that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance
with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully con-
sidered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the
authoring committee and the institution.
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