Eswatini Subnational Rainfall Indicators and CHIRPS-GEFS Forecasts

Dekadal rainfall indicators for Eswatini aggregated by subnational administrative units, produced by the World Food Programme using CHIRPS v2 and CHIRPS-GEFS data. It tracks 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month precipitation metrics and anomalies, with updates occurring six times per month to reflect the latest forecasts and observations.

Use Cases

• Analyzing agricultural drought risk by monitoring the 3-month rainfall anomaly (r3q)
• Comparing short-term forecasts (type='forecast') against long-term averages (rfh_avg) for early warning
• Spatial analysis of rainfall distribution using WFP Pcode administrative boundaries

Strengths

• Standardized Pcode references for subnational administrative units
• Includes both historical averages and real-time anomalies
• Provides pixel counts (n_pixels) to indicate the data density of each aggregate

Limitations

• Satellite-derived precipitation may deviate from local rain gauge measurements
• Requires filtering by the 'type' column to distinguish between forecasts and final observations

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP) via CHIRPS and CHIRPS-GEFS

Collection Method

Aggregated from Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) satellite imagery and GEFS forecasts

Freshness

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

Geography

Eswatini