The initial demand for the construction of an observational global runoff data set came from the WMO/ICSU Global Atmospheric Research Programme’s First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE). Its primary purpose was to collect a unique set of global data to study those physical processes in the troposphere and stratosphere, which are essential for a better understanding of the transient behaviour of the atmosphere. It was quickly apparent to the planners of the experiment that the FGGE presented an unprecedented opportunity to assemble additional information, such as runoff data, which in conjunction with the atmospheric data would lead to a better understanding of the physical basis of climate. This led to the formulation of the plan to collect runoff data in the form of discharges from selected river gauging stations and the boundaries of the catchment areas for the water years 1978-1980. The planning and actual collection of data were undertaken by the Hydrology and Water Resources Department (HWRP) of WMO.
From 1983 to 1987, the Institute for Bioclimatology and Applied Meteorology (Prof. Albert Baumgartner) of the University of Munich, Germany, served as the WMO Global Runoff Data Centre. During this period, the centre entered daily flow data for over 3,600 stations-years for the period 1978-1980. The institute also began the digitation of catchment boundaries, which were planned to be archived with the runoff data.
After the retirement of Prof. Baumgartner in 1984, the installation of a permanent Global Runoff Data Centre was initiated to preserve the initial data collection. Subsequent discussions involved WMO, the German Weather Service (DWD), the Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG), the German Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs resulting in a budget line for the collection of global runoff data in the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) effective from 1988.
In May 1987, the President of the German Weather Service in his role as the Permanent Representative of Germany with WMO announced the foundation of a permanent Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) at the Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) in Koblenz, Germany, under the auspices of WMO. The data processed by the University of Munich were transferred to the Federal Institute of Hydrology and GRDC officially became operative on 14 November 1988.
The collection of river discharge data in the Global Runoff Database started off with a UNESCO compilation covering monthly discharge data from 1965 to 1984 of approx. 3500 stations. In 1996 this initial dataset has been recompiled at the University of New Hampshire (US) as basis for the RivDis database. Since 1988 the GRDC database has grown continuously becoming the most comprehensive quality checked global discharge dataset.
Most important milestones:
2023: Release of new Major River Basins web application
2023: Dr. Simon Mischel appointed as new head of GRDC
2023: Release of GRDC-Caravan extension
2023: Adoption of WMO Resolution 24 “Hydrological Data Management in the WMO Information System 2.0”
2021: Release of 5th GRDC Freshwater Fluxes data product
2021: 14th meeting of the GRDC-Steering Committee in Koblenz
2021: GRDC data part of first WMO State of Global Water Resources report
2021: Adoption of WMO Resolution 1 “Unified Data Policy”
2020: Second edition of Major River Basins data product
2020: Third edition of WMO Basins and Sub-Basins data product
2020: Release of GRDC Data Download Portal
2019: Adoption of WMO Resolution 24 “Vision, strategy and organizational arrangements for hydrology and water resources in WMO”
2019: GRDC discharge data included in the WMO Catalogue for Climate Data
2018: Official approval of OGC Standard “WaterML 2: Part 3 - Surface Hydrology Features (HY_Features) - Conceptual Model”
2017: Migration to new database management system
2017: Second edition of WMO Basins and Sub-Basins data product
2017: 13th meeting of the GRDC-Steering Committee in Koblenz
2015: The BALTEX Hydrological Data hosted by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) was entrusted to GRDC for integration into the GRDC database
2015: 12th meeting of the GRDC-Steering Committee in Koblenz
2014: EURO-FRIEND-Water meeting in Montpellier concluded that the EURO-FRIEND European Water Archive (EWA) will be gradually integrated into GRDC database
2014: Release of 4th GRDC Freshwater Fluxes data product
2014: Completion of the GEOSS Interoperability for Weather, Ocean and Water Project (GEOWOW)
2013: 11th meeting of the GRDC-Steering Committee in Koblenz
2011: WMO Congress XVI expressed the continued need for facilitating access to hydrological observations for global studies and decide to keep Resolution 21 (Cg-XII) “Global Runoff Data Centre” in force and reaffirmed Resolution 25 (Cg-XIII, 1999) “Exchange of Hydrological Data and Products”
2011: Release of station-based watershed boundaries data product
2011: 10th meeting of the GRDC-Steering Committee in Koblenz
2010: The Southern Africa Flow Database of the Southern Africa FRIEND project was entrusted to GRDC for integration into the GRDC database
2009-2014: Engagement of GRDC in WMO/OGC Hydrology Domain Working Group
2009: The Head of GRDC appointed as WMO nominated co-chair of the newly established OGC Hydrology Domain Working Group of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)
2009: GRDC 20th Anniversary Colloquium in Koblenz
2009: 9th meeting of the GRDC-Steering Committee in Koblenz
2009: Release of 3rd GRDC Freshwater Fluxes data product
2007: Release of Major Rivers data product and contribution to WHYMAP
2007: 8th meeting of the GRDC-Steering Committee in Koblenz
2006-2011: Development of the European Terrestrial Network for River Discharge (ETN-R) as contribution to the European Flood Awareness System (EFAS) developed by EC-JRC
2005: 7th meeting of the GRDC-Steering Committee in Koblenz
2004-2010: Development of the Global Terrestrial Network for River Discharge (GTN-R) in support of GCOS and GTN-H
2004: Release of 2nd GRDC Freshwater Fluxes data product
2004: The European Water Archive (EWA) from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), Wallingford was entrusted to GRDC for continued operation
2003: 6th GRDC-Steering Committee met in Koblenz
2001: 5th GRDC-Steering Committee met in Koblenz
1999: Adoption of WMO Resolution 25 “Exchange of Hydrological Data and Products”
1999: 4th GRDC-Steering Committee met in Koblenz
1997: 3rd GRDC-Steering Committee met in Koblenz
1995: Release of 1st GRDC Freshwater Fluxes data product
1995: Adoption of WMO Resolution 21 “Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC)” and 40 “WMO Policy and practice for the exchange of meteorological and related data and products including guidelines on relationships in commercial meteorological activities”
1995: 2nd GRDC-Steering Committee met in Koblenz
1994: 1st GRDC-Steering Committee met in Koblenz
1992: Workshop “Global Runoff Data Centre” in Koblenz
1988: Official inauguration of the GRDC at the BfG on 14 November 1988
1988: Workshop “Global Runoff Data Set and Grid Estimation” in Koblenz
1987: Data transfer from University of Munich to Koblenz
1984: Start of data-collection at the Institute for Bioclimatology and applied Meteorology at the University of Munich
1982: Initial data request of FGGE-data by WMO for the years 1978-1980
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