HydroSHEDS quicklook
HydroSHEDS v2 is the next generation of global hydrographic data, providing a seamless, high-resolution foundation for mapping and analyzing freshwater systems worldwide. The HydroSHEDS v2 database are a suite of gridded and vector datasets derived from TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement) elevation data. DLR processed the original 12 m resolution TanDEM-X data to create a hydrologically pre-conditioned DEM that was further refined by hydrological optimisation and correction algorithms by Confluvio Consulting Inc., Montreal, Que., Canada, to derive drainage pathways. The resulting HydroSHEDS v2 database will provide river networks and catchment boundaries at full global coverage. See the HydroSHEDS website for more information.
The core data products of HydroSHEDS v2 are freely available and are provided at a resolution of 1 arc-second (~30 meters at the equator):
- Flow Directions (DIR): A drainage direction map derived from the conditioned elevation data
- Flow Accumulation (ACC): A flow accumulation map derived from the flow direction map, representing the number of upstream grid cells
- River network (RIV): A river network derived from the flow direction map, using a minimum upstream catchment threshold of 1 square kilometers
- HydroBASINS (BAS): A beta version of drainage basins (HydroBASINS) as a companion layer for the river reaches.
The data is currently limited to the Americas. Additional regions will be made available in future releases.
This repository contains the HydroSHEDS v2 dataset. The data is based on the TanDEM-X DEM elevation data.
The layers are in geographic projection (EPSG:4326) with a pixel size of 1 arc-second.
The core HydroSHEDS v2 dataset contains the following layers:
- Flow Direction raster (DIR): is provided as 8-bit unsigned integer cloud-optimized GeoTIFF raster (LZW compressed) (TIF). The Flow Directions raster represents the drainage directions as a raster file, containing eight values of possible directions in which water can flow from pixel to pixel. Each raster cell is assigned a code for the direction that is coded as: 1 = east, 2 = southeast, 4 = south, 8 = southwest, 16 = west, 32 = northwest, 64 = north, 128 = northeast, and 0 = sink (no direction).
- Flow Accumulation raster (ACC): is provided as 64-bit decimal point cloud-optimized GeoTIFF raster (LZW compressed) (TIF). The flow accumulation raster provides the count of upstream pixels that drain into each cell. As values of flow accumulation tend to be very high, relative to the size of watersheds, the data is delivered as 64-bit decimal point cloud-optimized GeoTIFF raster (LZW compressed).
- River Network (RIV): are vector data provided as both a zipped Esri File Geodatabase (GDB) and an OGC GeoPackage (GPKG). The River Network represents the river network generated from the flow directions, as well as corresponding node points. A flow accumulation threshold of 1 square kilometre was used to define the start of river reaches.
- HydroBASINS (BAS): are vector data provided as both a zipped Esri File Geodatabase (GDB) and an OGC GeoPackage (GPKG). The HydroBASINS layer represents a polygon layer that depicts sub-basin boundaries. The dataset is the predecessor (beta version) of HydroBASINS. It has been extracted from the gridded HydroSHEDS core layers at 1 arc-second resolution.
An open access publication can be found here:
Lehner, B., A. Roth, M. Huber, M. Anand, and M. Thieme (2022), A sharper look at the world’s rivers and catchments, Eos, 103, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EO220167. Published on 12 April 2022.
For further information please see https://www.hydrosheds.org/downloads-core-data-v2 or contact: td-hydro@dlr.de.
Lehner, B., A. Roth, M. Huber, M. Anand, and M. Thieme (2022), A sharper look at the world’s rivers and catchments, Eos, 103
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HydroSHEDS v2 - North/South America, 30m
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Further Datasets of Topic Hydrosphere
Data related to water in all its forms on the Earth's surface, including oceans, lakes and rivers.
