GPM Mentorship 2024

Precipitation Science and Applications

The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) Mentorship program is currently running, with participants from 49 countries. Please stay tuned for information about lectures and future program cycles as well as other affiliated opportunities.

The GPM Mentorship 2024 is connecting participants worldwide with subject matter experts from NASA and other key organizations for hands-on training on precipitation estimates and Earth Observation. Lectures and capstone projects will cover a wide array of precipitation-related topics. IMERG, DPR, ground validation, data discovery, and more.

Program leads: Vasco Mantas (University of Coimbra) & Andrea Portier (NASA/SSAI).

Program summary

The third edition of the GPM Mentorship will support new users from established and underrepresented user communities and provide a tailored hands-on learning experience. It will provide participants with an overview of state-of-the-art Precipitation Estimates and the first take on Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) applications to solve scientific and societal challenges.

The past two editions (2022 and 2023) reached over 200 participants from 45+ countries. The program is completely free and online.

Our speakers and mentors come from NASA, Texas A&M, University of Oklahoma, and University of Coimbra (more coming soon!).

The GPM Mentorship offers a comprehensive learning experience. This includes a blend of theoretical understanding through lecture series and hands-on practical training in the form of a capstone project. Expert guidance from subject matter experts enhances the learning journey. The capstone project not only solidifies learned skills but also fosters close collaboration with top scientists in the GPM community, ensuring participants gain valuable insights and real-world application of their knowledge.

Participants will be equipped to contribute to the dissemination of GPM products and best practices for research and applications.

Visit NASA's GPM Mentorship 2023 page for more on last year's edition here.

Key dates and information

Registration starts: February 2, 2024

Registration deadline: March 11, 2024

Capstone selection: Notifications sent up to 2 weeks after registration.

Lecture series dates: March 13, 20, 27, April 3, 2024.

Capstone starts (for selected participants): April 3, 2024.

Final session: June 5, 2024.

Methods of selection:

Registration will require the submissionof a short CV (50% of the score) and a motivation letter (50% of the score). Preference will be given to graduate students and early-career scientists. Demonstrable ability and interest in applying new skills to solve ‘real-world’ problems will be valued. Members of development and meteorological agencies are strongly encouraged to apply.
50% of the seats will be assigned preferentially to participants from lower and middle-lower income countries according to the list made available by the World Bank (check the list of countries here).

Please notice that if you are from one of NASA’s designated countries (see the list here), unfortunately, you will not be able to participate in the capstone project portion of the program. However, you may still participate in the lecture series.

Resources

Pre-Mentorship resources will be made available to participants.

GPM Mentorship resources (currently available to registered participants only):

Access resources

Agenda and list of speakers
Updates coming soon

Our speakers and mentors come from NASA, Texas A&M, University of Oklahoma, and University of Coimbra (more information and updates coming soon).

Session 1, March 13, 2023 (09.00 am – 11.00 am EST): GPM Fundamentals and IMERG data discovery/access.

Speakers (session 1): Dr. George Huffman (NASA, GPM Project Scientist), Dr. Jackson Tan (NASA/UMBC), Dr. Zhong Liu (NASA/GMU), Andrea Portier (NASA/SSAI).

Session 2, March 20, 2023 (09.00 am – 11.00 am EST): Access Climatology and Extreme Events using IMERG.

Speakers (session 2): Dr. Andrey Savtchenko (NASA), Dr. Mircea Grecu (NASA), Dr. Chuntao Liu (Texas A&M)

Session 3, March 27, 2023 (09.00 am – 11.00 am EST): Beyond IMERG, understanding Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) data and its applications.

Speakers (session 2): Aaron Funk (Texas A&M), Dr. Courtney Schumacher (Texas A&M), Dr. Mircea Grecu (NASA/MSU)

Session 4, April 3, 2023 (09.00 am – 11.30 am EST): Part I: IMERG data access using Google Earth Engine and Python; Part II: Ground validation and surface-atmosphere interactions.

Speakers and mentors (in alphabetic order):

The list is still being updated.

Aaron Funk (Texas A&M)
Andrea Portier (NASA/SSAI)
Dr. Andrey Savtchenko (NASA)
Dr. Courtney Schumacher (Texas A&M)
Dr. Chuntao Liu (Texas A&M)
Dr. Jackson Tan (NASA/University of Maryland Baltimore)
Dr. Joseph Turk (NASA/JPL)
Dr. Mircea Grecu (NASA)
Dr. Pierre Kirstetter (University of Oklahoma/NOAA)
Dr. Sarah Ringerud (NASA)
Dr. Vasco Mantas (University of Coimbra)
Dr. Yagmur Derin (University of Wisconsin)
Dr. Zhong Liu (NASA/ George Mason University)

Points of contact for this event: