Satellite-Based Extreme-Precipitation Study Presented at IPWG 2026

Jul 7, 2026. Malihe Nasibi presented NASA/SERVIR project-related work online at the 12th International Precipitation Working Group Workshop (IPWG 2026). The presentation, titled “Can Satellite Products be Used to Study Extreme Precipitation Trends across West Africa?,” was delivered on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

The study examined whether satellite precipitation products can support the analysis of extreme precipitation trends across West Africa, where sparse and inconsistent ground-based observations make long-term trend detection challenging. The work compared NASA’s IMERG V07 Final Run high-resolution precipitation product with the GPCP v3.3 daily climate data record for the period 1998–2024, using ETCCDI extreme precipitation indices, the Theil–Sen slope estimator, and the Mann–Kendall test.

The extended abstract reported coherent patterns between the two datasets, including weakening extreme-precipitation signals along eastern coastal Nigeria and increasing frequency of extremes in parts of the western Sudanian and Sahelian regions. The study also found strong agreement for trends in annual precipitation totals and concluded that IMERG can capture changes in extreme precipitation consistently with GPCP while offering the benefit of higher spatial resolution.

This presentation built on hydrometeorological analysis related to the broader NASA/SERVIR collaboration on flash-flood monitoring and forecasting in West Africa.

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