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The World Bank's Statistical Capacity Index has been widely employed to measure country statistical capacity since its inception two decades ago. This paper builds on the existing advantages of the Statistical Capacity Index, conceptually and empirically, to offer new statistical performance indicators and the Statistical Performance Index, which can better measure a country's statistical performance. The new index has clearer conceptual motivations, employs a stronger mathematical foundation, and significantly expands the number of indicators and countries covered. The paper further provides empirical evidence that illustrates the strong correlation of the new index with other commonly used development indicators of human capital, governance, poverty, and inequality. The framework can accommodate future directions to improve the index as the global data landscape evolves.

Digital Divide --- E-Government --- Governance --- ICT Data and Statistics --- Information and Communication Technologies --- National Statistical System --- Poverty Reduction --- Statistical and Mathematical Sciences --- Statistical Capacity --- Statistical Capacity Index --- Statistical Indicators --- Statistical Performance --- WDR Background Paper

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This paper uses a "mystery client" approach and visits the websites of national statistical offices and international microdata libraries to assess whether foundational microdata sets for countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are collected, up to date, and made available to researchers. The focus is on population and economic censuses, price data and consumption, labor, health, and establishment surveys. Following the exercise, a new microdata access indicator that measures the degree of opennes of microdata and the ease with which microdata users can understand and navigate the websites of national statistical offices is presented. The results show that about half of the expected core data sets are being collected and that only a fraction is made available publicly. As a consequence, many summary statistics, including national accounts and welfare estimates, are outdated and of limited relevance to decision makers. Additional investments in microdata collection and publication of the data once collected are strongly advised. National statistical offices in the region should make considerable improvements to the outlook of their websites to make them more user friendly. Specifically, microdata libraries and updated survey calendars should be a standard feature of the websites to ensure easy access to available microdata.

Census Data --- Consumer Survey --- Data Openness --- Data Transparency --- Demographic and Health Survey --- E-Government --- Governance --- Household Survey --- ICT Data and Statistics --- ICT Policy and Strategies --- Inequality --- Information and Communication Technologies --- Living Standards --- Living Standards Measurement Survey --- Microdata --- National Statistical Office --- Official Statistics --- Poverty Estimate --- Poverty Lines --- Poverty Reduction --- Statistical Indicators

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Precipitation is a well-recognized pillar in the global water and energy balances. The accurate and timely understanding of its characteristics at the global, regional and local scales is indispensable for a clearer insight on the mechanisms underlying the Earth’s atmosphere-ocean complex system. Precipitation is one of the elements that is documented to be greatly affected by climate change. In its various forms, precipitation comprises the primary source of freshwater, which is vital for the sustainability of almost all human activities. Its socio-economic significance is fundamental in managing this natural resource effectively, in applications ranging from irrigation to industrial and household usage. Remote sensing of precipitation is pursued through a broad spectrum of continuously enriched and upgraded instrumentation, embracing sensors which can be ground-based (e.g., weather radars), satellite-borne (e.g., passive or active space-borne sensors), underwater (e.g., hydrophones), aerial, or ship-borne. This volume hosts original research contributions on several aspects of remote sensing of precipitation, including applications which embrace the use of remote sensing in tackling issues such as precipitation estimation, seasonal characteristics of precipitation and frequency analysis, assessment of satellite precipitation products, storm prediction, rain microphysics and microstructure, and the comparison of satellite and numerical weather prediction precipitation products.

Research & information: general --- Northern China --- raindrop size distribution (DSD) --- microphysical processes --- quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) --- satellite-based precipitation --- elevation --- extreme events --- IMERG-V05B and V06A --- MSWEP --- ERA5 --- SM2RAIN --- precipitation estimation --- soil moisture --- SM2RAIN-CCI --- SM2RAIN-ASCAT --- multi-satellite precipitation analysis (TMPA) --- error decomposition --- complex topography --- diverse climate --- gauge data --- IMERG --- TAHMO --- morphing --- field displacement --- TIGGE --- precipitation --- numerical weather prediction --- satellite --- flood --- spring 2019 --- Iran --- GPM IMERG --- satellite precipitation --- spatiotemporal analysis --- statistical distribution --- validation --- Mainland China --- GSMaP_NRT --- GSMaP_Gauge_NRT --- raindrop size distribution --- radar reflectivity --- raindrop spectrometer --- semi-arid area --- assessment --- Taiwan --- data assimilation --- WRF model --- high-impact rainfall events --- GNSS ZTD --- optimum interpolation --- geographically weighted regression --- downscaling --- Tianshan Mountains --- satellite precipitation products --- evaluation --- daily rainfall --- hourly rainfall --- GPM --- TRMM --- GNSS --- GNSS antenna --- receiver antenna calibration --- relative calibration --- Phase Center Variation --- U-blox --- goGPS --- Zenith Tropospheric Delay --- ZED-F9P --- GSMaP --- Nepal --- cloud radar --- thunderstorm --- LDR --- hydrometeor --- hydrometeor classification --- lightning --- discharge --- remote sensing --- SEVIRI --- ground radar --- precipitation interpolation --- geographically and temporally weighted regression --- time weight function --- geographically and temporally weighted regression kriging --- extreme rainfall --- polarimetric radar signatures --- quantitative precipitation estimation --- southern china --- reanalysis --- linear trends --- mainland China --- EDBF algorithm --- geospatial predictor --- spatial pattern --- weighted precipitation --- Cyprus --- bias correction --- object-based method --- storm events --- Thies --- disdrometer --- weather circulations --- convective --- stratiform --- rain spectra --- radar reflectivity-rain rate relationship --- gridded precipitation products --- abrupt changes --- trends --- statistical indicators --- agriculture --- Pakistan --- rainfall --- radar --- extreme precipitation --- spatial bootstrap --- Louisiana --- annual maxima --- Northern China --- raindrop size distribution (DSD) --- microphysical processes --- quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) --- satellite-based precipitation --- elevation --- extreme events --- IMERG-V05B and V06A --- MSWEP --- ERA5 --- SM2RAIN --- precipitation estimation --- soil moisture --- SM2RAIN-CCI --- SM2RAIN-ASCAT --- multi-satellite precipitation analysis (TMPA) --- error decomposition --- complex topography --- diverse climate --- gauge data --- IMERG --- TAHMO --- morphing --- field displacement --- TIGGE --- precipitation --- numerical weather prediction --- satellite --- flood --- spring 2019 --- Iran --- GPM IMERG --- satellite precipitation --- spatiotemporal analysis --- statistical distribution --- validation --- Mainland China --- GSMaP_NRT --- GSMaP_Gauge_NRT --- raindrop size distribution --- radar reflectivity --- raindrop spectrometer --- semi-arid area --- assessment --- Taiwan --- data assimilation --- WRF model --- high-impact rainfall events --- GNSS ZTD --- optimum interpolation --- geographically weighted regression --- downscaling --- Tianshan Mountains --- satellite precipitation products --- evaluation --- daily rainfall --- hourly rainfall --- GPM --- TRMM --- GNSS --- GNSS antenna --- receiver antenna calibration --- relative calibration --- Phase Center Variation --- U-blox --- goGPS --- Zenith Tropospheric Delay --- ZED-F9P --- GSMaP --- Nepal --- cloud radar --- thunderstorm --- LDR --- hydrometeor --- hydrometeor classification --- lightning --- discharge --- remote sensing --- SEVIRI --- ground radar --- precipitation interpolation --- geographically and temporally weighted regression --- time weight function --- geographically and temporally weighted regression kriging --- extreme rainfall --- polarimetric radar signatures --- quantitative precipitation estimation --- southern china --- reanalysis --- linear trends --- mainland China --- EDBF algorithm --- geospatial predictor --- spatial pattern --- weighted precipitation --- Cyprus --- bias correction --- object-based method --- storm events --- Thies --- disdrometer --- weather circulations --- convective --- stratiform --- rain spectra --- radar reflectivity-rain rate relationship --- gridded precipitation products --- abrupt changes --- trends --- statistical indicators --- agriculture --- Pakistan --- rainfall --- radar --- extreme precipitation --- spatial bootstrap --- Louisiana --- annual maxima