**2.2. TRMM data**

The TRMM satellite was designed from a cooperative program between National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Its main goal is to monitor the distribution of precipitation in tropical and subtropical regions [11]. The satellite was launched in 1997 and has three main sensors onboard for studying precipitation: (i) precipitation radar (PR), (ii) microwave imager (TMI), and (iii) Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS). PR is an active sensor, the first of its kind in orbit, presenting as the most important characteristic for studying precipitation providing a three‐dimensional view of the structure of precipitation [17]. TMI is a passive microwave radiometer operating in five frequencies that provide information about the integrated content of the precipitation column, intensity and type of precipitation. The VIRS sensor, derived from the AVHRR/NOAA sensor, has five spectral bands in visible and infrared regions performing observations of clouds, such as cover, type, and top temperature [18].

For this study, monthly precipitation data derived from TRMM (3B43 product) version 7 (v7) were used, covering the period from January 2000 to December 2010. The 3B43 prod‐ uct is calculated using data from multiple satellites, in addition to TRMM, as well as me‐ teorological stations data from the Global Precipitation Climatological Center (GPCC) and the Climate Assessment and Monitoring System (CAMS) [19]. 3B43 imagery were ac‐ quired from the electronic address (http://gdata1.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/daac‐bin/G3/gui.cgi?in‐ stance\_id=TRMM\_Monthly), presenting spatial resolution of ~30 km in mm month−1. Images were processed in ENVI version 4.5, where the steps of reprojecting, resampling of pixels to 1 km (same spatial resolution of MOD16 data) using nearest neighbor meth‐ od, and clipping to Atlantic Rainforest remnants in SP were performed.
