In the past, distributions of raindrop size were made mainly by flying airplanes with special equipment through rainstorms or catching drops on a surface that shows the drop size.  Now NASA has come up with a method for measuring the 3-dimensional pattern of raindrop sizes in a storm that may help computer modelers improve forecasts of rainfall and flooding.  The Global Precipitation Measurement mission is a joint project between NASA and Japan.  You can watch a 4-minute video about why drop size matters and read more about the project at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/size-matters-nasa-measures-raindrop-sizes-from-space-to-understand-storms.

raindrop size