Copernicus DEM (GLO-30 / GLO-90)
Gov-Public
ESA's TanDEM-X-derived global DEM — the most accurate free global surface model available today.
Geospatial & Hydro-GISActiveSatellite DEM DataDEM Processing
12 tools · Collection
Satellite Data for Hydrology & Water Engineering
Satellite data has quietly become as important to H&H practice as any desktop model: free global DEMs at 30m, rainfall records that fill gauge gaps CHIRPS and IMERG, ERA5 reanalysis as the default ungauged-catchment forcing, and GRACE tracking groundwater depletion from orbit. This collection is one flagship pick per data type — the dataset we'd reach for first in each category — with the full catalogue browsable by tag below.
Filters
FABDEM
Academic-only
Copernicus DEM with forests and buildings stripped out — the bare-earth DEM flood and drainage models actually want.
Geospatial & Hydro-GISActiveSatellite DEM DataDEM Processing
CHIRPS
Free
Gauge-blended satellite rainfall at 0.05°, daily, since 1981 — the standard for drainage work in data-sparse regions.
Data, Monitoring & ForecastingActiveSatellite Precipitation DataRainfall Data
GPM IMERG
Gov-Public
NASA's 30-minute, 0.1° global precipitation record — the highest time resolution of any satellite rainfall product.
Data, Monitoring & ForecastingActiveSatellite Precipitation DataRainfall Data
ERA5 / ERA5-Land
Free
ECMWF's hourly global reanalysis — the default gap-free climate forcing record for ungauged catchments worldwide.
Data, Monitoring & ForecastingActiveClimate Reanalysis DataRainfall Data
MODIS LST
Gov-Public
1km daily/8-day land surface temperature from MODIS — the standard thermal input for energy-balance ET and snowmelt.
Data, Monitoring & ForecastingActiveLand Surface Temperature DataEvapotranspiration
SMAP
Gov-Public
NASA's L-band radiometer soil moisture mission — 9km/36km near-surface moisture, daily, since 2015.
Data, Monitoring & ForecastingActiveSatellite Soil Moisture DataDrought Analysis
MODIS Snow Cover
Gov-Public
500m daily/8-day global snow-cover extent from MODIS — the standard optical snow product for basin-scale tracking.
Data, Monitoring & ForecastingActiveSnow HydrologyRemote Sensing
ESA WorldCover
Free
Global 10m land cover from Sentinel-1/2 — the highest-resolution free global land cover map available.
Geospatial & Hydro-GISActiveLand Cover & Surface Water MappingSCS Curve Number
JRC Global Surface Water
Gov-Public
Pixel-level surface water history since 1984, built from the entire Landsat archive — where water has been, and when.
Geospatial & Hydro-GISActiveLand Cover & Surface Water MappingFlood Mapping
GRACE / GRACE-FO Mascons
Gov-Public
Monthly total water storage change from satellite gravity — the only direct signal of large-scale groundwater depletion.
Data, Monitoring & ForecastingActiveGRACE Water Storage DataGroundwater Modelling
Google Earth Engine
Freemium
Planetary-scale geospatial analysis in the cloud — the data catalogue and compute behind modern water remote sensing.
Geospatial & Hydro-GISActiveGoogle Earth EngineRemote Sensing