Access Historical Instantaneous Streamflow Data with the New USGS Online Database

News Release

U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey

For release:   November 14, 2007
Contact: Stephen Blanchard, 703-648-5629, sfblanch@usgs.gov
               Jennifer LaVista, 703-648-4432, jlavista@usgs.gov


Visit the Instantaneous Data Archive (IDA) website at http://ida.water.usgs.gov/ida/.

Access to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) historical instantaneous streamflow discharge data, dating back to around 1990, is now easily available online through the Instantaneous Data Archive (IDA). In this new system users will find streamflow information reported at the time intervals at which it is collected, typically 15 minute to hourly intervals.

The USGS has provided historical daily streamflow data on the Internet for more than a decade, but for many scientific and engineering proposes it is very useful to have the historical data in shorter time increments. The instantaneous data has been available for many years, but was not accessible through the web.  This new database saves time and effort by giving users the information through a user-friendly automated process.

“A user-friendly archive of historical instantaneous streamflow data are important to many different users for such things as floodplain mapping, flood modeling, and estimating pollutant transport..” said Robert Hirsch, USGS Associate Director of Water. “The new IDA site should be very helpful to research scientists and engineers for a wide range of hydrologic analyses.  We are delighted that we have the ability to provide this treasure trove of high-quality data for these uses.”
 
The IDA web site currently has about 1.5 billion instantaneous data values from 5,500 streamgages in 26 states. Populating this web site takes effort and resources that are being provided "as available," and not all states and streamgages are available at this time. The number of states and streamgages with data will continue to increase. It is possible that the IDA database will expand to include other variables such as temperature and pH in the future.

For more than 125 years, the USGS has monitored flow in streams and rivers across the U.S. The USGS collects data from more than 7,400 streamgages, many of which provide real-time data in 15 minute increments (explore this information at http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/). USGS streamflow data is routinely used for water supply and management, monitoring floods and droughts, bridge and road design, water availability and quality planning, and for many recreational activities.

Access an even larger variety of USGS data, such as for ground water and water quality, through the National Water Information System Web Interface (NWISWeb), which contains over 1.5 million sites, and averages over 25 million successful visits per month (log onto at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/).  

USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.

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Jennifer LaVista
Public Affairs Specialist
U.S. Geological Survey, Office of Communications
703-648-4432
Email: jlavista@usgs.gov