Mongolia Subnational Rainfall: Dekadal Indicators and Forecasts

WFP provides dekadal rainfall indicators for Mongolia aggregated by subnational administrative units using CHIRPS v2 satellite imagery and CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts. The data tracks 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month rainfall totals alongside long-term averages and anomalies. Updates occur six times per month to transition from short-term forecasts to final validated observations.

Use Cases

• Drought monitoring using the rainfall anomaly percentage (rfq) to identify regions with precipitation deficits
• Agricultural planning by comparing current 3-month rolling rainfall (r3h) against long-term averages (r3h_avg)
• Early warning systems utilizing the type column to distinguish between forecasted and observed rainfall

Strengths

• Integrates CHIRPS v2 satellite imagery with in-situ station data
• Standardized Pcode references for administrative units
• Includes pixel count (n_pixels) for aggregation transparency

Limitations

• Satellite-derived estimates may deviate from ground-truth in complex terrain
• Data status transitions from forecast to final, requiring users to filter by the type column

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP) using CHIRPS data from UC Santa Barbara

Collection Method

Satellite imagery (CHIRPS v2) and short-term forecasts (CHIRPS-GEFS) aggregated by administrative boundaries

Freshness

Updated six times per month (1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 26th) with forecasts and observations.

Geography

Mongolia