Rwanda Subnational Rainfall Indicators and Forecasts by Dekad

Supplying dekadal rainfall indicators for Rwanda's subnational administrative units, produced by the World Food Programme (WFP). It integrates CHIRPS satellite imagery with CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts to track 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month precipitation trends. The data is updated up to nine times per month to transition from initial forecasts to final observations.

Use Cases

• Assessing agricultural water availability using the 1-month rolling aggregation (r1h)
• Identifying meteorological drought by monitoring the 3-month rainfall anomaly percentage (r3q)
• Validating forecast accuracy by comparing initial type values with final observations for the same dekad

Strengths

• Includes 9 distinct rainfall and anomaly indicators per administrative unit
• Provides standardized Pcode references for integration with other WFP datasets
• Distinguishes between forecast, preliminary, and final data via the type column

Limitations

• Spatial resolution is limited to administrative unit aggregates rather than raw grid cells
• Satellite-derived CHIRPS data may exhibit biases in mountainous Rwandan terrain compared to local gauges
• Data status changes over time, requiring users to manage versioning for the same time period

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP) using CHIRPS and CHIRPS-GEFS data

Collection Method

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

Freshness

Updated multiple times per month on a cycle including the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 11th, 13th, 16th, 21st, 23rd, and 26th.

Geography

Rwanda