Water Quality Database Inventory
GEO AquaWatch is pleased to offer you three Water Quality Inventories:
The General Water Quality Project Inventory is a list of known projects offering water quality data or data products. Click here to download a copy of the most current general water quality project inventory from around the globe and here to find out what has changed since the last version. This list is not comprehensive, and will be updated from time to time.
This Citizen Science Water Quality Project Inventory, compiled by Justine Spore (University of Wisconsin) in 2021, is a list of known CitSci projects targeting water quality information from around the globe. This list is not comprehensive, and will be updated from time to time.
For a downloadable version of the table, see Water Quality Database Inventory
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Database Name |
Database Description | Spatial Extent | Temporal Extent | How to Access | Data Access Policy | Accepts Data Submissions? | Types of Data | Satellite Matchups? |
| NASA SeaBASS | High quality in situ measurements are prerequisite for satellite data product validation, algorithm development, and many climate-related inquiries federally maintained by NASA | Global | Measured between 1930 and present, Archived between 2000 and present | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Login Required | Yes | Apparent and inherent optical properties, phytoplankton pigment concentration | Yes, for some of the holdings |
| LIMNADES | Lake Bio-optical Measurements and Matchup Date for Remote Sensing maintained by the University of Sterling | Global | 1994-Present | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Restricted | Yes | Inherent and apparent optical property, in situ water consituent measurements for satellite validation | No, has in-situ water constituent measurements for satellite validation |
| AERONET-OC | The AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) project is a federation of ground-based remote sensing aerosol networks established by NASA and PHOTONS | Global | 1993-Present | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Open | Yes | Aerosol optical, microphysical, radiative properties, AOD, inversion products, precipitable water in diverse aerosol regimes, aerosol inversions, solar flux, ocean color, maritime aerosol | Yes, ground-based remote sensing aerosol networks |
| Water Quality Portal | The Water Quality Portal (WQP) is a cooperative service sponsored by the United States Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Water Quality Monitoring Council and contains current and historical water data from more than 1.5 million sites across the nation. | All 50 US states, outlying territories including District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Commonweath of Northern Mariana Islands | Varies by location | –Database Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Open | Yes | Discrete water quality samples and measurements (both lab and field samples/observations and in situ sensor measurements) | Mostly data from monitoring locations |
| NOAA Coastal Water Quality Data | Water Quality Data Portal integrates publicly available water quality data and includes a wide variety of site and sampling parameters, available for each sample location since the beginning of that database and is federally mainted by various US based organizations | US nationwide, surrounding territories – IOOSCoastal and oceanographic data sets from 11 regional associations are included as part of this data. Regional associations cover areas from the head of the tide to the U.S. exclusive economic zone, as well as the Great Lakes. | 1944-Present, varies by dataset | –Database Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Open | Yes | Water temperature, levels, currents, winds, and waves, as well as other meteorological and water quality parameters and model outputs, including simulations of past conditions and forecasts, nutrients, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, relative humidity, and measures of biodiversity, habitat, and population characteristics. | Yes, for some |
| REMARCO | Research Network of Marine-Coastal Stressors in Latin America and the Caribbean is a research network that uses nuclear and isotopic techniques to address environmental problems of the marine-coastal ecosystems of Latin America and the Caribbean based on the integrated work between scientists and communicators from the different countries that comprise it to achieve the effective transfer of scientific research. | Latin America/Carribean | Archives go back to Feb 2018 | –Database Access URL -Each data has specific citation instructions |
Closed, requires login | No | Coastal stressors, chemical and micro-plastic pollution, harmful algal blooms and accelerated changes in ocean acidification. | No |
| GEMStat | GEMStat is hosted, operated, and maintained by the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change in Koblenz, Germany and hosts water quality data of ground and surface waters providing a global overview of the condition of water bodies and the trends at global, regional and local levels. | Global | 1906-2020 | –Database Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Open | Yes | Inorganic, nutrients, organic, oxygen demand, flux, optical, temperature, suspended solids, indicator organism, phytoplankton, pigment Parameter Catalog |
No |
| CSIRO Data Access Portal | The CSIRO Data Access Portal provides access to research data, software and other digital assets published by CSIRO across a range of disciplines and is federally maintained by the Australian Research Data Commons. | Primarily Australia, some surrounding areas | 1900-Present | –Database Access URL -Each dataset has specific citation instructions |
Some open, some closed | Yes | Biological and chemical oceanography, natural hazards, sedimentology, surface water hydrology | Yes |
| IMOS | IMOS routinely operates a wide range of observing equipment throughout Australia’s coastal and open oceans, making all of its data accessible to the marine and climate science community, other stakeholders and users, and international collaborators. | Australia | 1844-Present | –Database Access URL – Full detail of the required citation and acknowledgement information will be located in each data collection. |
Open | Yes | Biological, Chemical (alkalinity, carbon, oxygen), Physical Atmosphere (air pressure, air temperature, air-sea fluxes, humidity, precipiation and evaporation, UV radiation, wind) Physical-Water (acoustics, air sea fluxes, backscattering, bathymetry, current, density, optical properties, salinity, sea surfaace height, temperature, turbidity, water pressure, wave) | Yes, for some |
| EEA Waterbase | Waterbase is the EEA’s databases on the status and quality of Europe’s rivers, lakes, groundwater bodies and transitional, coastal and marine waters, on the quantity of Europe’s water resources, and on the emissions to surface waters from point and diffuse sources of pollution. | Global, primarily Europe | 1900-2021 | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information (See Metadata Tab) |
Open | No | Time series of nutrients, organic matter, hazardous substances and other chemicals in rivers, lakes, groundwater, transitional, coastal and marine waters | No |
| NOAA WOD | The World Ocean Database is world’s largest collection of publicly available ocean profile that is federally mainted by NOAA and is a powerful tool for oceanographic, climatic, and environmental research. | Global | Jan. 1773-2021 | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Open | No | Temperature, Salinity, Oxygen, phosphate, pH, Chl, Plankton, alkalinity, partial pressure of carbon dioxide, transmissivity, pressure air temperature, CO2 warming, CO2 atmosphere, tritium, helium | No |
| GLEON | The Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network conducts innovative science by sharing and interpreting high resolution sensor data to understand, predict and communicate the role and response of lakes in a changing global environment federally maintained in the US. | Global | 1763-Present | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Open | Yes | Air temperature, discharge, dissolved oxygen, groundwater level, methane, nutrient, pH, suspended solids, water temperature, etc. | Yes |
| NETLAKE | Networking Lake Observatories in Europe was a Cost Action that focused on building a network of sites and individuals to support the development and deployment of sensor-based systems in lakes and reservoirs, and promote their use to address both current and future water quality issues in Europe. | Primarily Europe, some North and South America and New Zealand | 2012-2016 | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information (see suggested citation) |
Open | No | Air temperature, dissolved organic matter, pH, soil temperature, vapor pressure, water level, etc. Parameter Catalog (see page 17) |
No |
| MERMAID (MERis MAtchup In-situ Database) | The MERMAID project aims at making available an easy-to-use centralised database of merged in-situ optical measurements with concurrent MERIS acquisitions to Ocean Colour researchers involved in the MERIS mission. | Global | 2002-Present | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Closed | Yes | Parameter Catalog and Protocols | No |
| NSF BCO-DMO | BCO-DMO works with Principal Investigators to serve data and related information online from research projects funded by the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Sections, and the Office of Polar Programs at the U.S. National Science Foundation. | Global | 1750-Present | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Open | Yes | Biological, chemical and physical oceanography measurements, and experimental and model results (CTD, biological abundance, meteorological, nutrient, pH, carbonate, PAR, sea surface temperature, heat and momentum flux, sediment composition etc) | No |
| HydroShare | HydroShare is the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI)’s web based hydrologic information system for users to share and publish data and models in a variety of flexible formats, and to make this information available in a citable, shareable and discoverable manner. | Global | 1905-Present | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Login Required | Yes | Precipitaion, soil moisture, temperature, discharge etc. | Yes |
| DataStream | DataStream Initiative is a Canadian resource dedicated to advancing freshwater protection through open data flows. The online DataStream hubs improve access to water quality data in Canada and are delivered in collaboration with regional monitoring networks. | Canada | 1930-Present | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Open | Yes | Physical, chemical and biological characteristics, pesticides and hydrocarbon, apparent color, alkalinity, CO2, Chl a, dissolved oxygen, hardness, inorganic carbon, suspended sediment, etc. | No |
| NOAA CoastWatch + OceanWatch | NOAA CoastWatch/OceanWatch provides easy access for everyone to global and regional satellite data products for use in understanding, managing and protecting ocean and coastal resources and for assessing impacts of environmental change in ecosystems, weather, and climate and is federally maintained by NOAA. | Global | 1990-Present | –Data Access URl –Data Citation Information (See Data Access Policy) |
Open | Yes | Pigment, scan, Rrs, cast, above water | No |
| USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) | The National Water Information System (NWIS) Mapper provides access to over 1.5 million sites contained in the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS), including sites where current and historical surface-water, groundwater, springs, and atmospheric data have been collected. | United States | 1924-Present | –Data Access URL –Data Citation Information |
Open | No | Discharge, debris, vegetation, scour control etc | No |