CHIRPS2 FAQ

Is there a CHIRPS2 website?

Yes: https://chc.ucsb.edu/data/chirps

Where can I get CHIRPS2 data?

Via a web browser

http://data.chc.ucsb.edu/products/CHIRPS-2.0/

Via anonymous ftp

ftp ftp.chc.ucsb.edu
username: anonymous 
password: your_email_address
cd  /pub/org/chg/products/CHIRPS-2.0/

DOI links

CHIRPSv2.0: http://chc.ucsb.edu/data/chirps/ #Points to data webpage, see Data section for download

What is the spatial resolution of CHIRPS2?

• Chirps is produced at 0.05 x 0.05 degree spatial resolution.
• For daily Africa data we also provide a 0.25 x 0.25 degree spatial resolution product.

What are the spatial domain available for CHIRPS2?

• Global 50N-50S, 180W-180E @0.05 deg resolution = maps 7200 x 2000 pixels
• Africa 40N-40S, 20W- 55E @0.05 deg resolution = maps 1500 x 1600 pixels
• CAmer-Carib 23.5N-6N, 93W- 57W @0.05 deg resolution = maps 720 x 350 pixels
• WHem 50N-50S, 125W- 34W @0.05 deg resolution = maps 1820 x 2000 pixels

What are the time steps available for CHIRPS2?

• daily
• pentad
• dekad
• monthly
• 2-monthly
• 3-monthly
• annual

How does CHIRPS2 define a pentad?

• 6 pentads = 1 calendar month. Each of first 5 pentads in a month have 5 days. The last pentad contains all the days from the 26th to the end of the month.

How does CHIRPS2 define a dekad?

• A dekad = sum of 2 pentads. There are 3 dekads in a calendar month.

What are the file formats available for CHIRPS2?

• .tif
• .bil
• .netcdf

What units is CHIRPS2 in?

Total mm for given time step, mm/pentad, mm/month, etc.

What value is used for Bad Values?

-9999.

What is the latency of the CHIRPS2 product?

• There is a rapid (GTS and Mexico only) CHIRPS available 2 days after the end of a pentad.
• Final CHIRPS (all station data) is available sometime in the third week of the following month.

What is the temporal range for CHIRPS2?

CHIRPS2 is available from 1981 to near-real time.

What is the spatial density of station data used in CHIRPS2?

The closest thing we have available is what we call "reality checks" we post in EWX (Early Warning Explorer).

You can access EWX here.

• On the left open up the Africa tab.
• Then double click on RCHECKS-STNS
• You will have to zoom in to see squares with black dots in the middle.
  • These are 10x10 pixel boxes of the station value on top of the CHIRPS field, a "reality check" to see if the stations match the background field.
  • You can zoom in on a location, then cycle through month/years to see how the number of stations changes with time. It is pretty significant in some areas.

How was CHIRPS2 funded?

CHIRPS2 has been supported by funding from:

• the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
• the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)
• the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and
• the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

How good is CHIRPS2?

For its intended uses, Seasonal Drought monitoring and Trend Analysis, it is very good; see [1]

How do I reference CHIRPS2 in publications?

Funk, C.C., Peterson, P.J., Landsfeld, M.F., Pedreros, D.H., Verdin, J.P., Rowland, J.D., Romero, B.E., Husak, G.J., Michaelsen, J.C., and Verdin, A.P., 2014, A quasi-global precipitation time series for drought monitoring: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 832, 4 p. http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/832/

Is there a copy of the paper online?

Yes.

• CHG-local source
• USGS website

What are some of the changes in version 2.0?

• Since v1.8 we have added many new stations around the world. In particular, 400 in Peru, 1,200 across Africa from Sharon Nicholson, 11,000 in Brazil, over 1,000 in Mexico (Conagua), 76 from Southern Africa, 500 in Russia, 250 in Central Asia and 400 across Central America. In addition we have topped off data from several African countries. The Conagua stations are available in near-real time and will directly improve our preliminary CHIRPS product.
• Daily data now available for the Globe
• NetCDF format added
• Replaced erroneous stations in Tanzania
• Expanded diagnostics, stations by Country plots, EWX rchecks, station comparison/*badness* plots, station density maps, pentad and monthly png's of excluded stations.

What are the production changes for CHIRPS2?

As of January 2025, version 3 of CHIRPS is available to the public. Production of CHIRPS v2 will continue in parallel through 2026 to support ongoing applications during the transition to CHIRPS v3.

Who do I contact with CHIRPS2 questions?

Help chc-help@geog.ucsb.edu

Pete Peterson pete@geog.ucsb.edu

Robert Saldivar rsaldivar.ucsb.edu