Several weeks of heavy monsoon rains in August 2019 swamped Burma (Myanmar) and southern and western India, unleashing destructive floods and landslides. Above-average monsoon rainfall caused rivers and streams to overflow their banks, while destabilizing hillsides in several regions.
<p>The annual monsoon in south Asia typically has its greatest impact between July and September. India, for instance, receives roughly 70 percent of its annual rainfall from the monsoon. The rain is critical for replenishing <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145242/water-shortages-in-india">freshwater supplies</a> and for watering crops. But with at least <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/why-floods-continue-to-cause-so-much-damage-in-india/articleshow/70668870.cms">15 percent of the country</a> prone to floods, the monsoon also leads to several thousand deaths each year.
</p><p>The image above depicts satellite-based measurements of rainfall from August 1–12, 2019. The darkest reds reflect the highest rainfall amounts, with many places receiving 60 centimeters (24 inches) or more during this period. The image below shows the totals after twelve days. The measurements are a product of <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145460/the%20http://pmm.nasa.gov/precipitation-measurement-missions">Global Precipitation Measurement</a> (GPM) mission, a partnership between NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and five other national and international partners.
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The rainfall totals are regional, remotely-sensed estimates. Each pixel shows 0.1 degrees of the globe (about 7 miles at the equator), and the data are averaged across each pixel. Individual ground-based measurements within a pixel can be significantly higher or lower than the average. The data come from Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG), a product of the GPM science team. IMERG compiles precipitation estimates from several satellites, as well as surface precipitation gauge data, to provide precipitation estimates between 60 degrees North and South latitude.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using IMERG data from the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) at NASA/GSFC. Story by Michael Carlowicz.
2019-08-
<a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145460/heavy-monsoon-rains-flood-south-asia">https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145460/heavy-monsoon-rains-flood-south-asia</a>