Africa Precipitation (2016-2018)

<font size='3'>This map features the GLDAS total monthly precipitation modeled globally by NASA.  The map shows the monthly precipitation for the period of May 2016 to May 2018, focused on Africa.  You can click the <b>Play button</b> on the time slider to see precipitation over time.</font><div><font size='3'><br /></font></div><div><font size='3'>Great parts of Northern Africa and Southern Africa, as well as the whole Horn of Africa, mainly have a hot desert climate, or a hot semi-arid climate for the wetter locations. The equatorial region near the Intertropical Convergence Zone is the wettest portion of the continent. Annually, the rain belt across the country marches northward into Sub-Saharan Africa by August, then moves back southward into south-central Africa by March.<br /></font><div><font size='3'><br /></font></div><div><div style='background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: &quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;'><font size='3'>Precipitation is water released from clouds in the form of rain, sleet, snow, or hail. It is the primary source of recharge to the planet's fresh water supplies. This map contains a historical record showing the volume of precipitation that fell during each month from March 2000 to the present. Snow and hail are reported in terms of snow water equivalent - the amount of water that will be produced when they melt.</font></div><div style='background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: &quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;'><font size='3'><span style='line-height: 22.6286px;'> </span><br /></font></div><div style='background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: &quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;'><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'><font size='3'>Dataset Summary</font></span></div><div style='background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: &quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;'><font size='3'><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'>The GLDAS Precipitation layer is a time-enabled image service that shows average monthly precipitation from 2000 to the present, measured in </span>millimeters<span style='line-height: 1.41429;'>. It is calculated by NASA using the </span><a href='http://www.ral.ucar.edu/research/land/technology/lsm/noah/Noah_LSM_USERGUIDE_2.7.1.pdf' style='color: rgb(0, 121, 193); text-decoration-line: none; line-height: 1.41429;' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>Noah</a> land surface model<span style='line-height: 1.41429;'>, run at 0.25 degree spatial resolution using </span><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'>satellite </span><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'>and ground-based observational data</span><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'> from the </span><a href='http://ldas.gsfc.nasa.gov/' style='color: rgb(0, 121, 193); text-decoration-line: none;' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>Global Land Data Assimilation System</a><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'> (GLDAS-2.1). The model is run with 3-hourly time steps and aggregated into monthly averages. A complete list of the model inputs can be seen </span><a href='http://ldas.gsfc.nasa.gov/gldas/GLDASforcing.php' style='color: rgb(0, 121, 193); text-decoration-line: none;' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>here</a><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'>, and the output data (in GRIB format) is available </span><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'><a href='http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/hydrology/data-holdingshttps://hydro1.gesdisc.eosdis.nasa.gov/data/GLDAS/GLDAS_NOAH025_M.2.1/' style='color: rgb(0, 121, 193); text-decoration-line: none;' target='_blank' rel='nofollow ugc noopener noreferrer'>here</a>.</span></font></div><div style='background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: &quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;'><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'><font size='3'><br /></font></span></div><div style='background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: &quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;'><span style='line-height: 1.41429;'><font size='3'><div><div>Phenomenon Mapped: Precipitation</div><div>Units: Millimeters</div><div><div>Time Interval: <span style='line-height: 18.0001px;'>Monthly</span><br /></div><div>Time Extent: <span style='line-height: 1.38462;'>2000/01/01</span><span style='line-height: 1.38462;'> to present</span></div></div><div>Cell Size: 28 km</div><div>Source Type: Scientific</div><div>Pixel Type: Signed Integer</div><div>Data Projection: GCS WGS84</div><div><span style='line-height: 16.36px;'>Mosaic Projection: Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere</span></div><div><span style='line-height: 16.36px;'>Extent: Global Land Surface</span></div><div>Source: NASA</div></div><div>Update Cycle: Sporadic</div><div><br /></div></font></span></div><div style='background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: &quot;Avenir Next W01&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next W00&quot;, &quot;Avenir Next&quot;, Avenir, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;'><p style='margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.55rem;'><font size='3'>What can you do with this layer?<br />This layer is suitable for both visualization and analysis. It can be used in ArcGIS Online in web maps and applications and can be used in ArcGIS for Desktop. It is useful for scientific modeling, but only at global scales.<br /></font></p><p style='margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.55rem;'><font size='3'>By applying the &quot;Calculate Anomaly&quot; processing template, it is also possible to view these data in terms of deviation from the mean, instead of total evapotranspiration. Mean evapotranspiration for a given month is calculated over the entire period of record - 2000 to present.<br /></font></p><p style='margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.55rem;'><font size='3'><font color='#8b0000'>Time: </font>This is a time-enabled layer. It shows the total evaporative loss during the map's time extent, or if time animation is disabled, a time range can be set using the layer's multidimensional settings. The map shows the sum of all months in the time extent. Minimum temporal resolution is one month; maximum is eight years.<br /></font></p><p style='margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.55rem;'><font size='3'><font color='#8b0000'>Variables: </font>This layer has two variables: rainfall and snowfall. By default the two are summed, but you can view either by itself using the multidimensional filter, or by applying the relevant raster function. You must disable time animation on the layer before using its multidimensional filter.<br /></font></p><p style='margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.55rem;'><font size='3'><font color='#8b0000'>Important: </font>You must switch from the cartographic renderer to the analytic renderer in the processing template tab in the layer properties window before using this layer as an input to geoprocessing tools.</font></p></div><div><br /></div></div></div>