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Monthly Discharges for 2400 Rivers and Streams of the former Soviet 
Union [FSU] -- v1.1

B.A. Bodo 
September, 2001 

Abstract

This data set has monthly discharge data for 2458 gauges in the former 
Soviet Union [FSU] --- 316 gauge records from NCAR ds553.1; 2,134 
gauge records from data sets released by Russia's State Hydrological 
Institute [SHI]; and 8 records from the global Dettinger and Diaz 
GHCDN compilation. The SHI data sets include 1,486 gauge records for 
the FSU Arctic drainage basin via R-Arcticnet [see www.R-
Arcticnet.sr.unh.edu], and 1,206 gauge records for mostly non-Arctic 
FSU drainage basins partly available at 
espejo.unesco.org.uy/index.html.   
 
Geographic coverage of the joint set spans the entire FSU and all 
major river and oceanographic basins. Records are generally long: mean 
length is 36.3 yrs and 1,724 (70%) gauges have 25 or more years of 
data. 1,373 gauges have data to 1985 and another 909 gauges also have 
some data from 1986-1995.  640 gauges represent watersheds of 10,000 
or more sq km, and 1,055 gauges represent catchments of 1,000-9,999 sq 
km. 

Data and metadata quality of the 2,134 gauge records from SHI have not 
been scrutinized as rigorously as data taken from ds553.1.  
Redundancies (replicated sites and individual years of record) have 
been mostly resolved.  Egregious numerical errata have been deleted.  
River and gauge names for most gauges have been resolved to 
conventional English forms or close approximations.  Numerous errata 
in location coordinates and drainage areas have been corrected.  
Overall discharge data and metadata quality are good, but less obvious 
errata remain; hence, a modicum of caution is advised when using these 
data for sensitive analyses. 


Update V1.1 September 2001

-adds 8 records from GHCDN
-updates 2 others with some previously missing months
-some minor metadata fixes.

These data are available for free and un-restricted use.