Gambia Subnational Rainfall: Dekadal Indicators and Anomalies

A source of dekadal rainfall indicators for Gambia's subnational administrative units, produced by the World Food Programme using CHIRPS satellite imagery and CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts. It tracks 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month rainfall totals, long-term averages, and percentage anomalies across standardized geographic boundaries.

Use Cases

• Assessing drought severity by analyzing 3-month rainfall anomalies (r3q) relative to historical norms
• Agricultural planning using 10-day rainfall forecasts (rfh) to determine planting windows
• Hydrological modeling using rolling 1-month and 3-month precipitation totals (r1h, r3h)

Strengths

• Standardized WFP Pcode references for administrative units
• Granular 10-day (dekadal) temporal resolution
• Includes both historical averages and real-time forecasts

Limitations

• Satellite-derived estimates may deviate from local rain gauge data in specific microclimates
• Recent entries are subject to revision as they move from forecast to final status

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Aggregated from satellite imagery (CHIRPS v2) and short-term rainfall forecasts (CHIRPS-GEFS)

Freshness

Updated six times per month following a fixed schedule of forecasts and preliminary/final observations.

Geography

Gambia