Pakistan Subnational Rainfall Indicators: Dekadal CHIRPS Data and Forecasts

Rainfall indicators for Pakistan's subnational administrative units are provided by the WFP using CHIRPS satellite imagery and CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts. Updated through March 2026, the data includes 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month rainfall totals, long-term averages, and percentage anomalies.

Use Cases

• Drought monitoring using the 3-month rainfall anomaly percentage (r3q) to identify regions with significant moisture deficits
• Agricultural planning by comparing current 10-day rainfall (rfh) against the long-term average (rfh_avg) for specific administrative units
• Flood risk assessment by analyzing 1-month rolling aggregations (r1h) during monsoon seasons

Strengths

• Includes long-term averages (rfh_avg, r1h_avg, r3h_avg) for baseline comparison
• Standardized WFP Pcode references for administrative units
• Provides pixel counts (n_pixels) to indicate aggregation scale

Limitations

• Satellite-derived estimates may vary from local station data
• Temporal resolution is fixed to 10-day dekads
• Data status (forecast vs final) changes throughout the month

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP)

Collection Method

Aggregated from Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation satellite imagery (CHIRPS) and CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts

Freshness

Updated six times per month following a specific forecast and observation release cycle.

Geography

Pakistan