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The lack of sufficient precipitation data has been a common problem for water resource planning in many arid and semi-arid regions with sparse and limited weather monitoring networks. Satellite-based precipitation products are often used in these regions to improve data availability. This research presents the first validation study in Syria for Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) estimates using in-situ precipitation data. The validation was performed using accuracy and categorical statistics in the semi-arid Barada Basin, Syria, between 2000 and 2020. Multiple temporal scales (daily, pentad, monthly, seasonally, and annual) were utilized to investigate the accuracy of CHIRPS estimates. The CHIRPS results indicated advantages and disadvantages. The main promising result was achieved at the seasonal scale. Implementing CHIRPS for seasonal drought was proven to be suitable for the Barada Basin. Low bias (PBwinter = 2.1%, PBwet season = 12.7%), high correlation (rwet season = 0.79), and small error (ME = 4.25 mm/winter) support the implementation of CHIRPS in winter and wet seasons for seasonal drought monitoring. However, it was observed that CHIRPS exhibited poor performance (inland pentads) in reproducing precipitation amounts at finer temporal scales (pentad and daily). Underestimation of precipitation event amounts was evident in all accuracy statistics results, and the magnitude of error was higher with more intense events. CHIRPS results better corresponded in wet months than dry months. Additionally, the results showed that CHIRPS had poor detection skill in drylands; on average, only 20% of all in-situ precipitation events were correctly detected by CHIRPS with no effect of topography found on detection skill performance. This research could be valuable for decision-makers in dryland regions (as well as the Barada Basin) for water resource planning and drought early warning systems using CHIRPS.

This paper presents the results of using a pilot-scale-constructed wetland as a tertiary treatment to the domestic wastewater by using local plants in Syria, aiming to achieve the Syrian legal standards of phosphorus and nitrogen emissions. This pilot plant consisted of tow types of wetlands.The emerged plants are placed in 3 tanks and followed by 3 tanks of free-floating plant, daily estimating the treatment of24.m3/day of effluents. The effluents were circulated in a vertical subsurface flow through a porous matrix of thick sand and gravel, in which the roots of the Arundo donax and Cattail (Typha sp.) and Bottomos (locally species Reed) were fixed. Monitoring of the pilot plant was performed through biological analyses. The flow bypassing through free-floating plant tanks will support removing the nutrients. The system offer a good degree of pollutant efficiency removal, especially for phosphorus (45% medium), TKN (80% medium), and NH4–N (60% medium).