Iraq Subnational Rainfall: Dekadal Indicators and CHIRPS Forecasts

The World Food Programme provides dekadal rainfall indicators for Iraq's subnational administrative units derived from CHIRPS v2 satellite imagery and CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts. The data tracks 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month precipitation totals alongside long-term averages and percentage anomalies. Updates occur six times per month to transition from initial forecasts to final validated observations.

Use Cases

• Drought detection using the 3-month rainfall anomaly percentage (r3q) to identify long-term moisture deficits
• Seasonal trend analysis by comparing current 10-day rainfall (rfh) against the long-term average (rfh_avg)
• Predictive modeling for food security by incorporating rainfall forecasts (type column) into crop yield projections

Strengths

• Integrates CHIRPS v2 satellite data with in-situ station records
• Includes standardized Pcode references for administrative units
• Provides 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month rolling aggregations for trend analysis

Limitations

• Satellite-derived estimates may deviate from local rain gauge measurements in complex terrain
• Temporal resolution is limited to 10-day blocks, which may obscure short-duration extreme weather events

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP) via CHIRPS v2 and CHIRPS-GEFS

Collection Method

Satellite imagery processing integrated with station-based precipitation data

Freshness

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

Geography

Iraq