IMERG V08 and Beyond (Invited)

The Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) product developed by the U.S. Science Team of the NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission provides global satellite precipitation estimates for a wide range of scientific research and societal applications. A constellation of low-Earth orbit passive microwave and geosynchronous-orbit infrared satellites enables IMERG to achieve a high resolution of 0.1° every half-hour globally, with three Runs that provide different latencies that fit the needs of different users. Between the recent release of IMERG V07, the development of V08 currently in progress, and the expected end of the GPM satellite in the early 2030s, this presentation discusses the future trajectory of IMERG.

This presentation begins with a brief summary of the key changes contained in IMERG V07B and their impact. Changes include correcting some software issues, coping with satellite artifacts, and improving the calibration. Impacts include expanded coverage over the polar regions, increased half-hourly and decadal temporal consistency, improved accuracy against various ground reference datasets, and changes in global statistics. We also discuss the future of IMERG for the upcoming V08 and beyond, considering issues remaining from V07 development, new issues identified from early analysis, shifts due to the orbit boosts of the TRMM and GPM satellites, the proliferation of SmallSats capable of observing precipitation, the advent of machine learning algorithms, experimental work on uncertainty estimates, and priorities stemming from the approaching end of the GPM satellite.

This presentation emphasizes our continuing goal of providing the scientific and applications communities with a long record of reliable high-resolution precipitation observations. It also provides the opportunity for the community to discuss the future of global satellite precipitation.