A joint scientific satellite project between the United States and Japan designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall and the associated release of energy to the atmosphere. The TRMM instrument package includes the first spaceborne precipitation radar, the TRMM microwave imager, a visible and infrared scanner, a cloud and earth radiant energy system, and a lightning imaging sensor. The TRMM satellite was successfully launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on 27 November 1997.