Radiance measurements from several types of passive microwave (PMW) sensors are combined in the Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) to increase the temporal and spatial coverage of precipitation observations. The measurements of these sensors are converted to precipitation estimates by the GPM Profiling Algorithm (GPROF). High frequency PMW-channels are used to retrieve precipitation estimates over land, as these frequencies can measure the radiance scattered by ice particles in rain clouds. Scattering related to shallow and low-intensity precipitation events, however, is limited. Hence, radiometric signals associated with these events are hard to distinguish from the naturally emitted radiation from the Earth’s surface, especially since this so-called background radiation is dependent on the surface type. A better understanding of the physical processes that occur during precipitation events can help to identify possible weaknesses in the GPROF algorithm. Hence, this study couples overpasses of GPM radiometers over the Netherlands to two dual-polarization radars from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) in 2019. All rainy overpasses (>0.1 mm/hr) within a 75 km radius around one of the radars are selected. This coupling provides the opportunity to relate GPROFs performance to physical characteristics of precipitation events, such as the vertical reflectivity profile and dual-polarization information on the melting layer. Additionally, simultaneous observations from both the PMW sensor and the dual-frequency precipitation radar (DPR, used as a-priori database in GPROF) aboard the GPM core satellite are available. Hence, space-based and ground-based reflectivity profiles can be compared and coupled to discrepancies of the GPROF algorithm.