Global_HydroRIVERS_River_Network_MAF.zip

The availability of detailed surface runoff and river flow data across large geographic areas is crucial for diverse applications. A few countries (e.g., U.S.) offer such data at a high-resolution but most countries do not. Lack of detailed spatial data and challenges with intense processing have been the limiting factors in developing high-resolution river flows over large spatial scales. To address this specific need, the well-established Curve Number (CN) method was applied to develop a detailed surface runoff dataset. Publicly available, scientifically accepted and high-resolution global datasets for hydrologic soil groups, land cover, and precipitation were spatially processed by applying the CN equations to generate a contiguous global mean-annual surface runoff grid at a very high-resolution of 50m x 50m. Surface runoff was converted to river flow by spatially combining with a detailed global hydrology of rivers and catchment boundaries from HydroSHEDS and HydroBASINS to estimate mean-annual flows across the global river network. <br>