One focus of the international PUB Decade
(2003-2012) is to reduce predictive uncertainty
in estimates of hydrological variables for
ungauged, or poorly gauged, catchments.
Datasets prepared from source databases for
research often represent a substantial amount of
effort. Whenever possible, it therefore makes
sense for these frozen
datasets to be re-used.
Revised, or new, modelling techniques can be
applied using the frozen datasets and the results
compared with any previous published work that
used the same data. In this way, the hydrological
research community can assess different modelling
techniques in the context of reducing predictive
uncertainty.
At the request of the PUB international Top-Down
modelling Working Group (TDWG), frozen
datasets
of daily areal rainfall and streamflow
(1980-1990) for about 60 catchments throughout
England and Wales (Data60UK) can be downloaded
free-of-charge from
here.
A downloadable PDF file (also available from the TDWG website at http://www.stars.net.au/tdwg/) describes Data60UK and other hydroclimatological data and information of interest to PUB that can be downloaded from the NRFA website free-of-charge, including daily streamflow for about 200 UK catchments and details of their gauging stations (River Flow Data: Time Series Downloads), physical catchment descriptors, etc. Maps for each of the catchments showing topography and the spatial distributions of land-use and annual precipitation can be downloaded (Catchment Spatial Information).