Ghana Subnational Rainfall: Dekadal Indicators and Forecasts

Ghana subnational rainfall indicators provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) using CHIRPS satellite imagery and CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts. The data is aggregated by administrative units at a dekadal (10-day) frequency and includes historical averages and anomalies. Records are updated six times per month to transition from forecasts to final observations.

Use Cases

• Monitoring drought conditions by analyzing the rfq (rainfall anomaly) percentage across different regions
• Comparing current r3h (3-month rolling rainfall) against r3h_avg to assess seasonal agricultural performance
• Evaluating short-term weather outlooks using the type column to isolate forecast records

Strengths

• Integrates CHIRPS v2 satellite imagery with in-situ station data
• Includes standardized Pcode references for subnational administrative units
• Provides data quality metadata via the n_pixels column

Limitations

• Satellite-derived estimates may vary from local rain gauge measurements
• Temporal resolution is restricted to 10-day dekads rather than daily data

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP) via Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS)

Collection Method

Satellite imagery combined with in-situ station data and CHIRPS-GEFS short-term forecasts

Freshness

Updated six times per month (1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 26th) to provide forecasts and preliminary/final observations.

Geography

Ghana