Surface Water Viewer

The map provides a visual depiction of water dynamics between 2000 and 2018. In order to visualize annual permanent and seasonal water please select a boundary type and then click in a boundary. The boundary types includes national (GAUL level 0), first level of administrative boundaries within countries (GAUL level 1) or basin level information according to the Pfafstetter levels. The GAUL boundaries are used for analytical purposes only and and do not represent any opinion related to political boundaries.

Note that the dark bars in the charts represent observed permanent or seasonal water. The light bars in the charts represent water that may be permanent; however, due to gaps in the observation record the uncertainty has been filled using trends-analysis. If the observation rate is less than 95% then users should consider the results as experimental. The data underlying the charts can be obtained by clicking the 'Display results as a table' button under each chart.

Downloading the data for multiple boundaries without using the above map is possible via the Data Downloads feature. More information accessed on the Definitions and Resources pages. To see a demonstration of how to use the Earth Engine App or how to download the data, visit the Resources page.