The Climate Sensitive Stations dataset comprises daily discharge data of currently more than 1,200 gauging stations. National Hydrological Services have identified these “climate sensitive” stations on request of the WMO Commission for Hydrology in order to assess the variability and trends in hydrological data associated with climate variability and change.
The stations should meet at least the following minimum criteria proposed by the WMO CHy Advisory Working Group for the identification of climate sensitive river basins:
Consistency of data (seasonal, continuous, streamflow and lake level): records should be (wherever possible) continuous streamflow and lake level information, a minimum requirement is daily streamflow and lake level data
Degree of basin development: there should preferably be minimal river basin development so that the chosen basin represents, to the maximum extent possible, pristine conditions. However, if river basin development has occurred, then it should now be stable (that is not decreasing or increasing) and planning regulations should be in place to restrict substantial development. Minimally disturbed sites are considered as those having less than 10% of the surface area modified in some fashion. Examples may include protected water supply catchments, nature reserves, etc.
No significant regulation or diversions: total extractions or diversions should not exceed 5 percent of the mean annual flow.
Length of suitable record: at least 20 years of record
Longevity: the stations should be identified as being required for monitoring the impacts of climate change and should be maintained into the future. The conditions outlined above should be maintained as part of that commitment.
Accuracy of data: the accuracy rating of the data should be “good” or higher.
The data should be available in electronic format.
Preview of stations:
You can access the data by downloading the station catalogue below, copy the GRDC station name(s) or number(s) and paste them into the field “Station Name or Number” in the filter menu of the data portal. A step by step guide is provided in our Navigation guide for the GRDC data portal. The summary statistics provide an additional overview about the dataset.
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| Station Catalogue (XLSX, 111KB) |
| Summary Statistics by WMO region (PDF, 13KB) |
| Summary Statistics by Country (PDF, 16KB) |
| Summary Statistics by WMO basin (PDF, 22KB) |