Zimbabwe Subnational Rainfall: Dekadal Indicators and Forecasts

Supplying dekadal rainfall indicators for Zimbabwe's subnational administrative units, produced by the World Food Programme using CHIRPS satellite imagery and GEFS forecasts. It tracks 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month precipitation aggregates alongside long-term averages and percentage anomalies. Data is updated six times per month to transition from short-term forecasts to final validated observations.

Use Cases

• Drought monitoring by analyzing the r3q (3-month rainfall anomaly) column to identify persistent moisture deficits
• Agricultural season planning by comparing current rfh (10-day rainfall) against rfh_avg (long-term average)
• Climate trend modeling using the 'type' column to filter for final validated historical records

Strengths

• Includes long-term averages (rfh_avg, r1h_avg, r3h_avg) for baseline comparison
• Uses standardized Pcode references for subnational administrative units
• Provides data status transparency via the 'type' column to distinguish forecasts from observations

Limitations

• Satellite-derived CHIRPS data may vary from ground-based rain gauge measurements
• Final validated products for a given month are not available until the middle of the following month

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP)

Collection Method

Aggregated from Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) version 2 and CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts

Freshness

Updated six times per month on the 1st, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, and 26th.

Geography

Zimbabwe