The CAMELS data set: catchment attributes and meteorology for large-sample studies

Abstract

Abstract. We present a new data set of attributes for 671 catchments in the contiguous USA (CONUS). This complements the daily hydrometeorological time series provided by Newman et al. (2015b) and opens new opportunities to explore how the interplay between landscape attributes shapes hydrological processes and catchment behavior. To produce this extension, we synthesized diverse and complementary data sets to describe topography, climate, hydrology, soil and vegetation characteristics at the catchment scale. The spatial variations among basins over the CONUS are discussed and compared using a series of maps. The large number of catchments, combined with the diversity of their geophysical characteristics, makes this new data well suited for large-sample studies and comparative hydrology. An essential feature, that differentiates this data set from similar ones, is that it both provides quantitative estimates of diverse catchment attributes, and involves assessments of the limitations of the data and methods used to compute those attributes. This data set will be publicly available and we encourage the community to further extend it. The hydrometeorological time series provided by Newman et al. (2015b) together with the catchment attributes introduced in this paper constitute the CAMELS data set: Catchment Attributes and MEteorology for Large-sample Studies.