Collaborative NASA/SERVIR Work Presented at AMS 2026

Jan 2026. Malihe Nasibi presented collaborative NASA/SERVIR project work at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS 2026), held in Houston, TX, during January 25–29, 2026.

The presentation, titled “Investigating Extreme Precipitation and Associated Cloud-Top Temperatures in Flash Flood Events over West Africa,” examined how extreme precipitation and cloud-top temperatures relate to flood and flash-flood events across West Africa. This work is part of the broader NASA/SERVIR collaboration on improving flash-flood monitoring and forecasting capabilities in regions where ground-based observations are limited.

The study analyzes precipitation associated with flood and flash-flood events using NASA’s IMERG Early Run satellite precipitation product. Extreme precipitation is classified using long-term IMERG-based thresholds, including extremely wet days, very wet days, and sequences of wet days preceding flood events. The work also examines cloud-top temperatures derived from EUMETSAT SEVIRI infrared observations, which can provide useful information about convective storm development.

Preliminary findings indicate that the flash-flood events considered in the study were associated with extreme precipitation and colder cloud-top temperatures, while many flood events also met the study’s extreme-precipitation criteria. These results highlight the potential value of combining near-real-time satellite precipitation estimates with geostationary infrared observations to support flash-flood forecasting in West Africa.

Congratulations to Malihe and the NASA/SERVIR project collaborators on presenting this work at AMS 2026!