1 research outputs found
Large-scale river flow archives: importance, current status and future needs
Time-series for river gauging stations are core blue-skies and applied
research resources for understanding impacts of climate and anthropogenic
change on basin hydrology. River flow archives hold vital information
for evidence-based assessment of past hydrological variability,
and support hydrological modelling of future changes. River discharge
is an integration of basin input, storage and transfer processes to the
gauging point. It is important to set basin outlet data in regional to
global and long-term contexts: to better understand nested scales of
variability; to pinpoint locations and time periods most sensitive to climate
and human impacts; to make predictions for ungauged basins;
and to inform decision makers on water security issues, and where and
when to take measures to mitigate water hazards and stress, including
floods and droughts (Dai et al., 2009; Bonnell et al., 2006; Feyen &
Dankers, 2009; Haddeland et al., 2006; Hannah et al., 2005). Thus, there
is clear rationale for supporting large-scale (i.e. regional to continental to
global) river flow archives. Notable examples of such databases include
that held by the WMO Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) and the
UNESCO Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network
Data (FRIEND) European Water Archive (EWA). For large-scale river
flow archives to be valuable research resources, they must be fit for
purpose. However, these databases are at risk due to a possible decline
in network coverage, associated time-series truncation, growing human
impact on (near-) natural flows, and increasingly restricted access to
national-scale data. This commentary aims: (1) to demonstrate largescale
river flow datasets are crucial to advance hydrological science and
solve operational issues; (2) to assess the current status of large-scale
river flow datasets; and (3) to propose ways forward to consolidate historical
data and secure future river flow data