# Passive Microwave Imagers, Their Applications, and Benefits: A Review
## 3 The Applications, Benefits, and Impacts of PMWIs on Society
This has positive impacts, which have yet to be fully quantified, in the form of more accurate TC warnings, saved lives, and the mitigation of financial damages. Floods are also destructive events that cause significant harm to both human lives and the economy. The 2020 summer monsoon flood in China is another example of the most expensive disaster, causing USD 35 billion in damages [117]. Even though damages from flooding can be extensive, there are a few issues when assessing their impacts. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline
**Societal Benefit** & **Topic** & **Application** & **Example** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Flooding} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Incorporation in} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Application of IMERG data for} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Incorporation in} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{event-based flood modeling in the} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{hydrologic routing models} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Sunshui River Basin, southwestern} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{for flood estimation.} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{China, using the hydrologic modeling} \\  & & & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Landslides} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Landslide Hazard Assessment model} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Nowcasting of potential} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{for Situational Awareness (LHASA)} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{was developed using long-term} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{landslides activities,} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{TMPA and IMERG data. This model provides near-real-time estimates of} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{potential landslide activity worldwide} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{landslide occurrence [119].} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{and assesses the overlap between} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{global landslide occurrences and} \\  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{extreme rainfall patterns [120].} \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Extreme Events and Disasters} & \multirow{4}{*}{Tropical Cyclones (TCs)} & \multirow{4}{*}{Improved characteristics of TC track and intensity.} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{The GPM-CO GMI data have been incorporated into the NRL Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecasting System (ATCFS) to improve the precision of TC location tracking [121].} \\  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Disaster Response} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Situational awareness of extreme precipitation in} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} \\ \cline{1-1}  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{potentially affected areas.} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Reinsurance and Insurance} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Definition of extreme precipitation thresholds to} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} \\ \cline{1-1}  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{determine pay-outs for} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} \\ \cline{1-1}  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{microinsurance or} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} \\ \cline{1-1}  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{improved situational awareness for} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} \\ \cline{1-1}  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{precipitation climatologies.} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{} \\ \cline{1-1}  & & & \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: List of TRMM and GPM societal benefit areas, topics, and specific uses of the data [38]. It should be noted that county-level data on property and crop damages in the U.S. suffer from inconsistencies and aggregation issues, which makes them unusable for comparing damages over time. Furthermore, comparing and merging values from different databases is not advised, as there is no standardized way to measure and report the effects