IPC 15 Sessions
Harnessing the data revolution for precipitation estimation and prediction across scales and regimes.
IPC15 is organized around a set of thematic scientific sessions reflecting the breadth and depth of contemporary precipitation research, from fundamental processes to applications and societal impacts.
The sessions are designed to foster focused scientific exchange while encouraging dialogue across disciplines, methods, and communities.
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Each session is coordinated by expert conveners and includes a combination of oral and poster presentations, with both in-person and full remote participation options available. Contributors are encouraged to review the session descriptions carefully and select the session that best matches the focus of their abstract during submission.
In addition to the core sessions listed below, IPC15 will include late-break sessions to accommodate timely developments and emerging topics. Information on late-break submissions will be announced closer to the conference date.
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The session list below may be updated as the program evolves to reflect community interest and emerging priorities.
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Authors are also invited to submit abstracts outside the sessions (Open submissions), which will then be allocated to an appropriate session by the program committee.
IPC15 Session list
PMM.1: Next-Generation Precipitation Observations Conveners: Sarah Ringerud (NASA), George Huffman (NASA) Summary: The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission has passed 10 years in operation, building a legacy of unprecedented advances in understanding the global distribution and characteristics of rain and snow. In order to continue this data record, a key issue will be the character of the future constellation. To date, smaller radiometers have been limited to the higher frequency passive microwave (PMW) channels. While these PMW channels present excellent opportunities for understanding clouds, ice, and snow, the relationships to precipitation are more indirect than for lower-frequency channels, and therefore more uncertain, which will have an effect on global precipitation mapping as well as applications value. In this session we invite broad discussion on topics relevant to future planning, including channel spectral response, window hyperspectral sampling, sensor and calibration stability that are necessary to support accurate retrievals, machine learning advances, as well as current or new technologies in this area along with anticipated science impacts. Type: Oral + poster session
Group 1. Bridging models and observations, including through novel AI methodologies
T1.1: NASA Precipitation Measurement Missions Science Conveners: Sarah Ringerud (NASA), George Huffman (NASA) Summary: NASA’s Precipitation Measurement Missions (PMM) Science Team has pursued a wide range of innovative algorithm development and improvement for individual passive microwave and infrared sensors, as well as merged datasets; calibration and error detection for the various sensors; ground validation; science projects focused on remote sensing and modeling of precipitation; and selected application work. This session is organized to showcase this work, and presentations on related studies across the precipitation community are also welcomed. Type: Oral + Poster
T1.2: Ground Validation of Precipitation Products: From Reference Data to Trustworthy Use Conveners: IPC Session Summary: Ground validation is essential for establishing confidence in satellite- and reanalysis-based precipitation products, yet remains one of their most challenging components. The comparison of gridded estimates with rain gauges, disdrometers, radars, and citizen-science observations underpins product development, intercomparison, and application, but is complicated by scale mismatches, data quality issues, and uneven spatial coverage. This session invites abstracts focused on ground validation of precipitation products, including methods for point–grid comparison, uncertainty quantification, error decomposition, and representativeness analysis across climates and terrains. We welcome contributions presenting validation of products such as NASA IMERG, CHIRPS, and regional datasets; innovative use of ground and radar networks; and lessons learned from validation efforts supporting operational and decision-oriented applications. Submissions highlighting best practices, reproducibility, and pathways to more transparent and uncertainty-aware precipitation estimates are especially encouraged. Type: Oral + poster
T1.3: Engaging with GPEX : Exploring Atmospheric Rivers, Mesocale Convective Systems, Monsoons, and Tropical Cyclones Conveners: Adrian McDonald (University of Canterbury), Annalisa Cherchi (The Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC)) Summary: The Global Precipitation EXperiment (GPEX) WCRP lighthouse activity takes on the challenge of improving precipitation predictions around the world via targeting four key goals: • Improve understanding of precipitation and related processes • Improve precipitation predictions and projection • Reduce Precipitation product uncertainties • Enhance regional and local capability Supported by four working groups, which will support coordinated field campaigns, precipitation relevant data development, modelling and process understanding, and capacity development. To add value GPEX will focus effort on advancing the understanding of four major precipitation regimes: atmospheric rivers, mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), monsoons, and tropical cyclones. These distinct, high-impact phenomena drive both mean and extreme precipitation across diverse global regions, representing critical sources of hydrological variability. The session invites GPEX-relevant contributions by targeting the following themes: • Innovative observational and modeling strategies for diagnosing precipitation generation and variability within and across the four precipitation regimes. • Approaches for feature tracking, precipitation attribution, and improved prediction—especially leveraging new remote sensing, in situ campaigns, and multi-scale model experiments. • Insights on uncertainties and challenges in global precipitation measurement, including solid versus liquid precipitation, hydrometeor characteristics, and under observed regions (high-latitudes, global oceans, high elevation). This session hopes to define and exchange emerging best practices within the GPEX framework and provides a collective assessment of standards, methods, and tools currently used across the community for precipitation process characterization, feature tracking, and model Type: Oral + Poster
T1.4: Bridging Models and Observations for Advancing Precipitation Science Conveners: Viviana Maggioni (George Mason University), Veljko Petkovic (Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center/University of Maryland College Park), Simon Pfreundschuh (Colorado State University), Shruti Upadhyaya (IIT Hyderabad) Summary: Bridging the gap between models and observations remains a central challenge in precipitation science. Numerical models have made notable progress in representing kilometer-scale precipitation processes such as organized convection, yet uncertainties persist in their treatment of microphysics and in the assimilation of precipitation-affected observations. Conversely, observational datasets generally provide a more realistic depiction of convective precipitation but struggle to capture key processes such as orographic enhancement and snowfall. They are also constrained by sensor limitations, retrieval uncertainties, and limited spatial or temporal coverage. Harnessing the complementary strengths of models and observations thus presents an opportunity to advance our ability to estimate, understand, and predict precipitation across a wide range of scales. This session focuses on innovative methods, frameworks, and applications that integrate precipitation observations and models to produce more accurate, consistent, and actionable information. We invite contributions that address: • Systematic characterization and reduction of model–observation differences; • Development of hybrid observational–modeling datasets; • Bias correction, downscaling, or data assimilation strategies; • Novel frameworks for uncertainty quantification and propagation; and • Emerging techniques, including but not limited to artificial intelligence, for model–observation integration. By bringing together advances in modeling, remote sensing, and data analysis, this session aims to highlight the scientific and practical value of bridging the modeled and observational precipitation products. The session will provide a platform for exchanging methodologies and fostering collaborations across communities. Type: Oral + Poster
Group 2. ​Spatio-temporal variability, from microphysical processes to synoptic-scale patterns
T2.1: Precipitation variability across scales – transforming observations to applications Conveners: Christian Kummerow (Colorado State University), Efi Foufoula (University of California) Summary: Observations of precipitation (from gauges, radars, satellites or combinations thereoff) often have time and space scales that are not suitable for the intended applications. This session solicits papers related to methodologies that examine the "effective resolution" of precipitation products, develop models that can bridge the gap of scales while preserving fundamental space-time organization and dynamics, novel multi-modality data-analytic approaches including ML for fusing observations at their native resolution without the need to re-grid them to the same resolution, and applications that examine the effect of precipitation product scales on the accuracy of intended applications. Type: Oral + poster
T2.2: Past, present, and future spaceborne radar observations of precipitation Conveners: Courtney Schumacher, Masafumi Hirose (Meijo Univeristy, Japan) Summary: Spaceborne precipitation radars, like the TRMM PR and GPM DPR, have provided high spatial resolution information of precipitation at locations worldwide for approximately three decades. Based on this database, algorithms are constantly being refined and research from diverse perspectives continues to expand our understanding of precipitation processes. Information captured by CloudSat and EarthCARE also contributes to our understanding of the full 3-D picture of clouds and precipitation from space. In the near future, radar missions including INCUS, the next-generation PMM KuDPR, and WIVERN will advance the sophistication of precipitation system observations from space using active sensors. We invite presentations on all aspects of radar-based precipitation measurements with an emphasis on observations from spaceborne radars, including the diurnal cycle, subseasonal to interannual variations, rain rate extremes and trends, orographic precipitation and other regional characteristics, microphysical and kinematic properties, algorithm development, model evaluation, and applications. This session will share the strengths and limitations of spaceborne precipitation radar data and confirm the expansion of its use toward enhanced the understanding and prediction of the spatiotemporal variability of precipitation around the globe. Type: Oral + poster
T2.3: High resolution precipitation for improving hydrological applications Conveners: Luca Brocca (National Research Council of Italy, Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection, Perugia, Italy), Mehdi Rahmati (Institute of Bio- and Geosciences: Agrosphere (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52428 Jülich, Germany), Ehsan Modiri (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Department Computational Hydrosystems, Leipzig, Germany), Paolo Filippucci (National Research Council of Italy, Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection, Perugia, Italy) Summary: High-resolution (~1 km) precipitation data, derived from ground-based measurements and satellite observations, is essential for improving hydrological applications, especially for monitoring and predicting floods, landslides and flash droughts. Precipitation exhibits strong spatial and temporal variability, particularly in complex terrain and convective regimes, and this cannot be adequately captured by datasets with a coarse resolution (e.g. 10 km satellite products or coarse ground monitoring networks). Recent activities within international research projects and collaborations have developed integrated products, combining ground-based, reanalysis and satellite data to enable the generation of high-resolution precipitation fields that are both accurate and spatially complete. These high-resolution products are essential for understanding potential improvements in the representation of localised extreme rainfall, which is crucial for simulating surface runoff, soil moisture dynamics, and slope stability. This level of detail is particularly important for flash floods and landslides, where hydrological responses are highly sensitive to rainfall intensity and spatial distribution. Various initiatives are underway at the European scale, such as Destination Earth by the European Commission and Digital Twin Earth Components by ESA. At the international scale, the Earth System Digital Twin by NASA is also in progress. These initiatives aim to run hyper-resolution hydrological modelling using high-resolution data to improve early warning systems and risk assessment. This contributes to enhanced disaster preparedness and water resource management in the context of climate change. For this session we invite studies that use different precipitation data sources and modelling to address these topics. Type: Oral + poster
Group 3. ​Partnerships for addressing societal challenges and decision-making
T3.1: Translating Precipitation Data into Actionable Early Warning Through Partnerships Conveners: Karyn Tabor (Science Systems & Applications, Inc./NASA GSFC) , Chris Funk (Climate Hazards Center) Summary: This session will explore the critical role of partnerships and networks in translating precipitation data and models into actionable information for early warning systems. The scope focuses on multi-sector collaboration—bringing together scientists, technicians, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and cross-sectoral working groups—to bridge the gap between scientific data production and decision-making to address urgent humanitarian actions. The primary objective is to share successful models and lessons learned in co-developing data and tools to monitor and forecast hazards like drought and flood to inform decisions related to societal challenges such as food security and disaster risk reduction. This session will highlight the use of precipitation data and derived tools by a network of partners working together to enhance decision-making underpinning humanitarian action. Effective partnerships are essential for advancing precipitation science and utilizing these data sets to take urgent actions that reduce the impacts of hazards on vulnerable communities. Type: Oral + poster
T3.2: From Pixels to Decisions: Applications, Success Stories, and Bottlenecks of Gridded Precipitation Products Conveners: Vasco Mantas (University of Coimbra) Summary: Gridded precipitation products from satellites, reanalysis, and gauge integration, such as NASA IMERG, are now central to hydrology, climate research, and risk management. They enable flood and drought monitoring, climate analysis, and decision support, particularly in regions with sparse in-situ observations. This session invites abstracts showcasing successful applications of gridded precipitation products, as well as studies addressing key bottlenecks, including biases, uncertainty at local scales, representation of extremes, and challenges in validation and decision uptake. Contributions spanning operational use, evaluation, model coupling, and future directions are welcome, with an emphasis on lessons learned and pathways to more robust, decision-relevant precipitation information. Type: Oral + poster
T3.3: Aerosols, Satellite Rainfall, and Climate-Health Linkages: Exploring the Invisible Connect Conveners: Dheeresh Kumar (University of Delhi) Summary: Understanding the interplay between aerosols, precipitation, and climate is vital for assessing Earth’s hydrological and atmospheric balance. This session aims to bridge research from atmospheric science, satellite remote sensing, and public health to explore how aerosols and air pollutants influence rainfall formation, intensity, and chemistry. Particular emphasis will be placed on dust and bioaerosols (aeroallergens) as they alter cloud microphysics and precipitation efficiency, contributing to acid rain and impacting respiratory health. Through a combination of satellite-based observations, modeling studies, and ground validation efforts, the session will highlight new analytical methods for quantifying aerosol–precipitation interactions and their downstream climatic and health effects. It will also foster interdisciplinary discussion on data integration, uncertainty assessment, and policy relevance, encouraging collaboration between environmental scientists, health researchers, and data engineers. The session welcomes contributions on aerosol–cloud interactions, precipitation monitoring, acid deposition trends, and climate-health linkages, with the goal of advancing cross-sector understanding and actionable insights for sustainable atmospheric management. Type: Oral + Poster
T3.4: Next Generation precipitation scientists: The Future of Precipitation and Climate Education Conveners: IPC Session Summary: As precipitation and climate information increasingly inform science, policy, and societal decisions, education and capacity building are becoming as critical as data and models themselves. Advances in satellite missions, reanalysis, open data platforms, and AI-driven analysis have transformed how precipitation is observed and interpreted, yet large gaps remain in training, accessibility, and interdisciplinary literacy—particularly across regions, sectors, and career stages. This session invites abstracts exploring the future of precipitation and climate education, from university curricula and professional training to informal education, online platforms, and community-based learning. We welcome contributions on innovative teaching approaches, open and reproducible educational resources, integration of satellite and in-situ data in classrooms, and strategies for bridging science, applications, and decision-making. Perspectives on equity, global capacity building, and preparing students and practitioners to critically assess uncertainty and societal relevance are especially encouraged. Type: Oral + poster
IPC15 will feature a set of Late-Break Sessions designed to accommodate recent scientific advances, emerging results, and timely topics that could not be included during the main abstract submission period.
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Late-break sessions provide a flexible space within the IPC15 program to address fast-moving developments and cross-cutting themes at the interface of science, policy, and applications. Contributions are expected to be concise, forward-looking, and clearly connected to ongoing scientific, operational, or societal challenges related to precipitation and water resources. More information will be shared soon.