Name: CAMELS-SPAT
Availability: https://doi.org/10.20383/103.01306
Documentation: See data repository README, and GitHub for issues: https://github.com/ch-earth/camels_spat
Collaborators: Wouter Knoben (University of Calgary); Cyril Thébault (University of Calgary); Kasra Keshavarz (University of Calgary); Laura Torres-Rojas (Princeton University); Nathaniel Chaney (Duke University); Alain Pietroniro (University of Calgary); Martyn Clark (University of Calgary); and others.
We build on the existing Catchment Attributes and MEteorology for Large-sample Studies (CAMELS) dataset to present a new dataset aimed at hydrologic studies across North America, with a particular focus on facilitating spa- tially distributed studies. The dataset includes basin outlines, streamflow observations, meteorological data and geospa- tial data for 1426 basins in the US and Canada. To facil- itate a wide variety of studies, we provide the basin out- lines at a lumped and semi-distributed resolution; stream- flow observations at daily and hourly time steps; variables suitable for running a wide range of models obtained and derived from different meteorological datasets at daily (one dataset) and hourly (three datasets) time steps; and geospa- tial data and derived attributes from 11 different datasets that broadly cover climatic conditions, vegetation properties, land use and subsurface characteristics. Forcing data are provided at their original gridded resolution, as well as averaged at the basin and sub-basin level. Geospatial data are provided as maps per basin, as well as summarized as catchment at- tributes at the basin and sub-basin level with various statis- tics. Attributes are further complemented with statistics de- rived from the forcing data and streamflow and focus on quantifying the variability of natural processes and catch- ment characteristics in space and time. Our goal with this dataset is to build upon existing large-sample datasets and provide the means for a more detailed investigation of hy- drologic behaviour across large geographical scales. In par- ticular, we hope that this dataset provides others with the data needed to implement a wide range of modelling ap- proaches and to investigate the impact of basin heterogene- ity on hydrologic behaviour and similarity.
Knoben, W. J. M., Thébault, C., Keshavarz, K., Torres-Rojas, L., Chaney, N. W., Pietroniro, A., and Clark, M. P.: Catchment Attributes and MEteorology for Large-Sample SPATially distributed analysis (CAMELS-SPAT): streamflow observations, forcing data and geospatial data for hydrologic studies across North America, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 5791–5833, 10.5194/hess-29-5791-2025, 2025
About CAPE: We bring together observations, models, and data science to improve understanding and prediction of hydrological processes across scales from hillslopes to continents.
Land and Water Acknowledgement: We respectfully acknowledge that we live and work on Treaty 7 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis, Tsuut'ina, Stoney, and Blackfoot. We thank these nations for their care and stewardship over this land and water, and we pay respect to the ancestors of these places.