The GATE rainfall data set is used in a statistical study to estimate the sampling errors that might be expected for the type of snapshot sampling that a low earth-orbiting satellite makes. For averages over the entire 400-km square and for the duration of several weeks we find strong evidence that sampling errors less than 10% can be expected in contributions from each of four rain rate categories which individually account for about one quarter of the total rain. ¿American Geophysical Union 1987