September 28, 2012
Journal Article

A New Global River Network Database for Macroscale Hydrologic modeling

Abstract

Coarse resolution (upscaled) river networks are critical inputs for runoff routing in macroscale hydrologic models. Recently, Wu et al. (2011) developed a hierarchical Dominant River Tracing (DRT) algorithm for automated extraction and spatial upscaling of basin flow directions and river networks using fine-scale hydrography inputs (e.g., flow direction, river networks, and flow accumulation). The DRT was initially applied using HYDRO1K baseline fine-scale hydrography inputs and the resulting upscaled global hydrography maps were produced at several spatial scales, and verified against other available regional and global datasets. New baseline fine-scale hydrography data from HydroSHEDS are now available for many regions and provide superior scale and quality relative to HYDRO1K. However, HydroSHEDS does not cover regions above 60°N. In this study, we applied the DRT algorithms using combined HydroSHEDS and HYDRO1K global fine-scale hydrography inputs, and produced a new series of upscaled global river network data at multiple (1/16° to 2°) spatial resolutions in a consistent (WGS84) projection. The new upscaled river networks are internally consistent and congruent with the baseline fine-scale inputs. The DRT results preserve baseline fine-scale river networks independent of spatial scales, with consistency in river network, basin shape, basin area, river length, and basin internal drainage structure between upscaled and baseline fine-scale hydrography. These digital data are available online for public access (ftp://ftp.ntsg.umt.edu/pub/data/DRT/) and should facilitate improved regional to global scale hydrological simulations, including runoff routing and river discharge calculations.

Revised: October 11, 2012 | Published: September 28, 2012

Citation

Wu H., J.S. Kimball, H. Li, M. Huang, L.R. Leung, and R.F. Adler. 2012. "A New Global River Network Database for Macroscale Hydrologic modeling." Water Resources Research 48. PNNL-SA-87400. doi:10.1029/2012WR012313