dataset · Global
GEOGLOWS Hydrological Model Version 2
GEOGLOWS is the Group on Earth Observation's Global Water Sustainability Program. It coordinates efforts from public and private entities to make application ready river data more accessible and sustainably available to underdeveloped regions. The GEOGLOWS Hydrological Model provides a retrospective and daily forecast of global river discharge at 7 million river sub-basins. The stream network is a hydrologically conditioned subset of the TDX-Hydro streams and basins data produced by the United S
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Licence: [Creative Commons BY 4 (CC BY 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Evidence quality: 53.5
Listed in aws-odr public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- retrospective daily average river discharge (from 1940) · daily discharge forecast: 3-hourly, 51-member ensemble, 15-day lead time · estimated return-period flows for ~7 million river sub-basins · GIS streams datasets (including visualisation-optimised versions) · model configuration, metadata tables and initialisation files
- Coverage docs-verified
- Global · Retrospective from 1 January 1940; daily forecasts
- Resolution docs-verified
- Spatial: ~7 million river sub-basins (hydrologically conditioned TDX-Hydro subset). Temporal: daily average (retrospective); 3-hourly average (forecast).
- Update frequency docs-verified
- New forecasts uploaded daily; retrospective simulation updated weekly (Sundays)
- Formats docs-verified
- zarr · netCDF · CSV · GeoPackage
- Access docs-verified
- Free and open; anonymous S3 access with no AWS account required (aws s3 ls --no-sign-request). Licence: CC BY 4.0.
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- FRA baseline flows at ungauged watercourse reaches using the nearest sub-basin discharge · Return-period flow estimates for flood-risk screening and culvert or drainage sizing context · Historical daily streamflow series from 1940 for water-resources context and hydrological model checks · 15-day ensemble forecast context for site-specific watercourse flood monitoring
- Audience llm-inferred
- flood consultants · hydrologists · drainage engineers · water resources engineers · GIS analysts
Limitations
- Constraints llm-inferred
- Retrospective flows are simulated (derived from ERA5 reanalysis), not gauged observations · Stated update frequency is inconsistent: page metadata says Monthly, while the text says forecasts daily and retrospective weekly · Global dataset with no UK-specific validation stated in the docs · Stream network is a subset of TDX-Hydro; reach identifiers may not match local asset or gauge records · Zarr on-demand time-series queries are optimised for up to a few hundred rivers; bulk use requires netCDF downloads · Forecast skill and lead time are limited to 15 days
Evidence
- arn:aws:s3:::geoglows-v2, arn:aws:s3:::geoglows-v2-forecasts, arn:aws:s3:::geoglows-v2-retrospective
- https://registry.opendata.aws/geoglows-v2/
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.