Days of heavy rains have lead to devastating landslides on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi (formerly Celebes). So far the death toll has exceeded 200 with many more still missing. The hardest hit area was Sinjai in South Sulawesi.

The primary mission of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, also known as TRMM, is to measure rainfall over the global Tropics. It was placed into service in November of 1997. From its low-earth orbit, TRMM has been measuring rainfall over the global Tropics using a combination of passive microwave and active radar sensors. It can be used to calibrate rainfall estimates from other satellites. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi- satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center monitors rainfall over the global Tropics. MPA rainfall totals are shown here for the period 14 to 21 June 2006 for the island of Sulawesi in central Indonesia and the surrounding area. The highest rainfall totals for the period (shown in red) are on the order of 10 to 12 inches. The southernmost area of heavy rain is near the southern tip of Sulawesi and covers the higher terrain adjacent to Sinjai. Deforestation in the region is believed to be a contributing factor in the disastrous mudslides.

72 hour FLOOD POTENTIAL MAP JUNE 21, 2006 0900Z	Rainfall Over Southern Sulawesi
For TODAY'S FLOOD POTENTIAL information see: " http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/publications_dir/potential_flood.html ".