The rivers of South America are derived from the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) HydroSHEDS drainage direction layer and a stream network layer.The drainage direction layer was created from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) 15-second Digital Elevation Model (DEM).The raster stream network was determined by using the HydroSHEDS flow accumulation grid, with a threshold of about 100 km² upstream area.
The stream network dataset consists of the following information: the origin node of each arc in the network (FROM_NODE), the destination of each arc in the network (TO_NODE), the Strahler stream order of each arc in the network (STRAHLER), numerical code and name of the major basin that the arc falls within (MAJ_BAS and MAJ_NAME); - area of the major basin in square km that the arc falls within (MAJ_AREA); - numerical code and name of the sub-basin that the arc falls within (SUB_BAS and SUB_NAME); - area of the sub-basin in square km that the arc falls within (SUB_AREA); - numerical code of the sub-basin towards which the sub-basin flows that the arc falls within (TO_SUBBAS) (the codes -888 and -999 have been assigned respectively to internal sub-basins and to sub-basins draining into the sea).
The attributes table now includes a field named "Regime" with tentative classification of perennial ("P") and intermittent ("I") streams.
Supplemental Information:
This dataset is developed as part of a GIS-based information system on water resources for South America. It has been published in the framework of the AQUASTAT - programme of the Land and Water Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Contact points:
Metadata contact: AQUASTAT FAO-UN Land and Water Division
Contact: Jippe Hoogeveen FAO-UN Land and Water Division
Contact: Livia Peiser FAO-UN Land and Water Division
Data lineage:
The linework of the map was obtained by converting the stream network to a feature dataset with the Hydrology toolset in ESRI ArcGIS.The Flow Direction and Stream Order grids were derived from hydrologically corrected elevation data with a resolution of 15 arc-seconds.The elevation dataset was part of a mapping product, HydroSHEDS, developed by the Conservation Science Program of World Wildlife Fund.Original input data had been obtained during NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM).
Online resources:
Download - Rivers of South America (ESRI shapefile)
For general information regarding the HydroSHEDS data product
For HydroSHEDS dataset download and technical information
