PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (December 9, 2022) — Dr. Ram Ray, Ph.D., associate professor in the Cooperative Agriculture Research Center at Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), has secured $499,599 grant award from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) rain gauge and Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG) data for his project, “Characterizing precipitation distribution using in situ and satellite measurements over the agricultural watershed.”
NASA has been putting forth the effort to increase ground validations by increasing the density of rain gauges and radars over different regions of the earth. In keeping with NASA’s mission to increase the network of ground observations in Minority serving institutions.
Dr. Ray and his team are excited about the opportunity this funding provides the PVAMU Cooperative Agriculture Research Center.
Ram Ray, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Cooperative Agriculture Research
“This grant aims to install a NASA Global Precipitation Monitoring (GPM) rain gauge on the PVAMU research farm, which is highly advanced in measuring precipitation,” said Ray. “It has an automatic data logger that uses cell phone modems to send data directly to the server. We already have an eddy covariance flux tower and a USDA-NRCS SCAN station to measure precipitation. However, the NASA GPM rain gauge will help us measure precipitation precisely and allow us to calibrate other sensors on the farm and nearby.”
Satellite-based precipitation datasets are invaluable in providing near real-time, high spatial resolution, wide-area coverage precipitation data used for water resources management and climate adaptation decision making. In the present age where rapid weather and climate extremes are becoming the norm, satellite-based precipitation datasets provide essential high spatial coverage precipitation data.
“I am mostly looking to use this highly accurate precipitation data to validate satellite precipitation,” said Ray. “I’m also looking to use this data in the hydrologic model to address some of the critical water resource issues in southern Texas.”
The project includes a co-principal investigator Dr. MD Jobair Bin Alam, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering; and Dr. Gebrekidan Tefera, postdoctoral researcher. It will give PVAMU students with the opportunity to gain experience and knowledge on remote sensing and to One of the purposes of this station is to use gauge data to validate satellite precipitation using cutting edge technology.
“The research Dr. Ray and his team are conducting will provide micro-scale precipitation data for crucial NASA Earth Science focus areas — weather; climate variability and change; and, the water and energy cycles. It will involve students in field measurements, data pre-processing, and application of the data for climate, hydrology, and watershed management-related research.” said PVAMU Vice President of Research & Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA. “This is a fantastic advancement in our research capabilities, creating an opportunity to develop strong collaboration within the college, PVAMU, and other institutions across the USA and globally.”
The GPM rain gauge and IMERG precipitation datasets will be further used for hydrological model simulation and other water and climate-related applications for university graduate and undergraduate students, hydrologists and meteorologists, state and federal agencies involved in climate change and water resources management and other stakeholders who are interested in weather and climate information.
“The project adds tremendous value to the PVAMU journey from R2 to R1 institution,” said Ray. “The NASA GPM station on the PVAMU research farm is unique, and global researchers will know PVAMU when they reach us to get additional information about the data and find the information of the station’s location (which is the PVAMU research farm) while downloading GPM rain gauge data.”
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By Jenna Craig