In the framework of agro-pastoral campaign monitoring, the AGRHYMET Regional Center often uses rainfall data estimated from satellites to assess the rainfall situation and crop growth conditions, because of the very loose spatial distribution. and irregularity in the field observation data transmission. Among the different sources of satellite rainfall estimation, the one made available by the TAMSAT team (Tropical Applications in Meteorology using SATellite data) at the University of Reading (England) is one of the most used in Africa, including by AGRHYMET and West African and Sahelian countries. However, difficulties related to the real-time availability as well as the quality of this data at certain times of the year were noted. In order to solve these problems, the AGRHYMET and TAMSAT teams obtained funding for a research project from the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) of the United Kingdom.
After 9 months of implementation of this project, a results-sharing workshop was organized from July 26 to 28, 2021 in virtual mode. Entitled « Exploitation of developments in satellite rainfall estimation for agrometeorological applications » and intended primarily for the staff of national meteorological and hydrological services, in particular climatologists and agrometeorologists, this workshop is part of the continued efforts that the AGRHYMET Regional Center is deploying in order to improve the information products and services it makes available to West Africa and the Sahel countries.
The general objective of the workshop was to provide NMHSs with the knowledge necessary to access and use satellite rainfall estimation products in their respective services in support of their activities. It also looked at methodological developments aimed at improving TAMSAT rainfall estimates to better meet user needs.
This training workshop was attended by technicians from the meteorological services of the CREWS-West Africa project (Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) beneficiary countries, namely Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Togo, Chad and Cameroon, as well as Benin.
