Data access

Collecting data is not sufficient in itself. Data must be processed, stored and made available to those who need them if they are to have any value.
WMO is working with countries to assist in rescuing their past records of hydrological data. Nine countries in Africa have already succeeded in saving these valuable records.In May 1999, the Thirteenth WMO Congress adopted Resolution 25 (Cg-XIII) - Exchange of Hydrological Data and Products (See also "Exchange of hydrological data and products" by P.Mosley, TD No. 74).

This committed WMO to broaden and enhance, whenever possible, the free and unrestricted international exchange of such data, in consonance with the needs of the global hydrological community and the requirements for WMO's scientific and technical programmes.

Exchange of data at the regional level is being enhanced through the WHYCOS programme and at the global level WMO has established a series of data centres. The Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) was established in 1988 and is supported by, and located in, the Federal Institute of Hydrology in Koblenz, Germany. The Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) is also located in Germany, at the German Meteorological Service.

A new centre, the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC), is now being established in The Netherlands. Plans are also being finalized for a data centre on lakes and reservoirs. The Global Terrestrial Network - Hydrology (GTN-H) has been launched as a means of accessing the wide range of hydrological data needed for global studies.