Benin: Subnational Dekadal Rainfall Indicators and Anomalies

Supplying dekadal rainfall indicators for Benin's subnational administrative units, produced by the World Food Programme using CHIRPS v2 satellite imagery and CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts. It tracks precipitation across 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month intervals, including long-term averages and percentage anomalies. The data is updated six times per month to transition from forecasts to final observations.

Use Cases

• Drought detection using the rainfall anomaly percentage (rfq) to identify subnational deficits
• Agricultural season tracking by comparing 3-month rolling aggregations (r3h) to long-term averages (r3h_avg)
• Short-term flood risk assessment using the 10-day rainfall forecast (rfh) when the type column is set to forecast

Strengths

• 9 specific rainfall indicators including rolling averages and anomalies
• Standardized WFP Pcode references for administrative units
• Includes n_pixels column to indicate the spatial data density for each aggregate

Limitations

• Satellite-derived estimates from CHIRPS may vary from local ground-based rain gauge measurements
• Final validated observations are only available mid-month for the prior month's dekads
• Geographic scope is limited to Benin subnational units

Provenance

Source

WFP - World Food Programme using CHIRPS v2 and CHIRPS-GEFS

Collection Method

Satellite imagery and in-situ station data aggregation

Freshness

Updated six times per month on a fixed schedule (1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 26th)

Geography

Benin (Subnational level)