Namibia Subnational Dekadal Rainfall Indicators and Anomalies

Dekadal rainfall indicators for Namibia 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 rainfall totals, long-term averages, and percentage anomalies across the country's administrative regions. The data is updated six times per month to transition from short-term forecasts to final verified observations.

Use Cases

• Drought monitoring by analyzing rainfall anomaly percentages (rfq, r1q, r3q) against historical norms
• Agricultural yield forecasting using 10-day rainfall totals (rfh) and 3-month rolling aggregations (r3h)
• Early warning systems utilizing the CHIRPS-GEFS short-term forecasts identified in the type column

Strengths

• Includes 9 distinct rainfall indicators including rolling 3-month aggregations
• Uses standardized WFP Pcode references for administrative unit identification
• Provides pixel counts (n_pixels) to indicate the spatial data density for each aggregate

Limitations

• Data for the most recent dekads is subject to revision as it moves from forecast to final status
• Satellite-derived CHIRPS data may have inherent biases compared to direct rain gauge measurements

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP)

Collection Method

Aggregation of Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) and GEFS forecasts.

Freshness

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

Geography

Namibia