The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), which was launched in the end of November 1997 as a Japan-U.S. joint mission, is the first satellite mission whose objective is entirely focused on measuring ” rainfall” accurately. The TRMM satellite is continuing its observation steadily, and will mark its 15th anniversary in 28 November (JST) this year.Its achievements are not only increasing scientific knowledge, but also extending to societal benefits by satellite rainfall observation, for example, operational utilization in numerical weather forecast, development of global rainfall map product integrating data from TRMM and other Earth observation satellites (GSMaP, TMPA/3B42, etc.), and application of global rainfall map in flood alert and warning.

In this symposium, to celebrate milestone of the TRMM’s 15-year observation, we will overview both scientific and societal achievements obtained by the TRMM satellite, and perspectives toward the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, whose core observatory will be launched in early 2014. Furthermore, we will introduce examples by the TRMM satellite and the Global Change Observation Mission - 1st Water (GCOM-W1 or “SHIZUKU”) to show application of satellite remote sensing technologies in integrated water resource management and risk management, and discussion on roles of satellites and future expectation in these fields.