WaPOR data validation workshop in Mali

On October 11, 2022, WaPOR held a validation workshop in Bamako, Mali, to tackle data the validation of the portal's data in the country. 

During the inception workshop, stakeholders in Mali had identified potential applications of WaPOR datasets in their respective fields, including agriculture, livestock, irrigation and water management. Moreover, questions were raised about the quality and accuracy of the datasets. 

There have been a number evaluations made on WaPOR data such as the quality assessment of the 2nd version of the database as well as a series of others that were done by WaPOR users; the latter can easily be found on the WaPOR applications catalogue by selecting evaluation  under the application dropdown. Yet, evaluation of the data performed at the national level are crucial to ensure confidence in the datasets for future use in the country in question.

During the one-day workshop, participants brought datasets that can be deployed to validate WaPOR data layers. The data contributed by the participants were related to biomass, rainfall and evapotranspiration. 

Overall, comparison between WaPOR products and field data were similar except for biomass data. Yet, on-field biomass data was limited in time, so it was difficult to make a comparison.