Overview
This dataset contains global modelled daily river discharge data from the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS), which is part of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS). The dataset is produced by coupling land surface model runoff component of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA5 global reanalysis with the LISFLOOD hydrological and channel routing model (Harrigan et al. 2020). The dataset is available at 0.1° horizontal resolution and a daily time step from January 1 1979, until near real time (2 to 5 days behind real time). LISFLOOD model in GloFAS-ERA5 was calibrated against daily river discharge from 1287 observation stations worldwide, and results were found to be skilful against a mean flow benchmark for 86% of catchments, although the strength of skill varied considerably with location (Harrigan et al. 2020). Two versions of GloFAS-ERA5, legacy version (v2.1) and updated version (v3.1) are available for download in GRIB2 file format in parallel from the Copernicus Climate Change Service Climate data store (https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/cems-glofas-historical?tab=overview; access: August 13, 2021). Additional attribute includes upstream areas for points in the river network.
Provider’s contact Information :
GloFAS River Discharge Product Page: https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/cems-glofas-historical?tab=overview
Licensing :
CEMS-FLOODS datasets licence: https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/api/v2/terms/static/cems-floods.pdf
Variable name and units:
River discharge [m3 s-1]
Spatial coverage and resolution:
- Global except for Antarctica (90N-60S, 180W-180E)
- Gridded 0.1° x 0.1° data in GRIB2 format.
Temporal coverage and resolution:
January 1, 1979, to near real time at daily resolution.
Information about related datasets:
Limitations and strengths for application in Northern Canada
GloFAS dataset is available for entire Northern Canada region. Limitations include, relatively short time span (1979 present). Given that GloFAS data is based on ERA5 forcings, uncertainties associated with the ERA5 propagate into GloFAS data. The skill of GloFAS data in representing historical observations depends on location. It is not clear how many stations in Northern Canada were used for model calibration. Evaluated skills (in terms correlation, bias and variability errors) are highly variable over Northern Canada ranging for good to poor performance. While GloFAS-ERA5 reanalysis does represent major dams and reservoirs on the modelled river network, simplified reservoir operating parameters were used based on expert opinion.
References to documents describing the methodology and/or the dataset:
Harrigan, S., E. Zsoter, L. Alfieri, C. Prudhomme, P. Salamon, F. Wetterhall, C. Barnard, H. Cloke, and F. Pappenberger, 2020: GloFAS-ERA5 operational global river discharge reanalysis 1979–present, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2043–2060, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2043-2020.