The Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) was created in 1988 at the German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG) under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It is Germany’s contribution to the WMO’s Global Climate Observing System and Hydrology and Water Resources Programme.
The GRDC’s global base comprises a unique collection of data on river flows collected daily or monthly by over 9,400 stations in 160 countries. This represents over 410,000 station-years with an average record length of 43 years.
The GRDC archives international data over a 200-year period and encourages long-term hydrological studies. Its objective is to help earth science specialists analyze global climate trends, evaluate impacts and environmental risks, and assist the assessment of transboundary water resources.
The Centre manages several specialized databases, including the bases of the WMO Hydrology Commission and the Global Terrestrial Network for River Discharge (GTN-R) to support the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) in evaluating freshwater flows into the sea. In addition, the GRDC offers products like GIS maps showing major basins and catchment area boundaries for over 7,000 GRDC stations.
To expand and update its database, the organization relies entirely on voluntary contributions from national hydrological services and related authorities responsible for monitoring flows. National hydrological services and basin authorities are encouraged to supply relevant data so that the GRDC can satisfy requests for flow-related data for non-commercial uses in science and research.