A global dataset of surface water and groundwater salinity measurements from 1980–2019

Josefin Thorslund*, Michelle van Vliet

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Salinization of freshwater resources is a growing water quality challenge, which may negatively impact both sectoral water-use and food security, as well as biodiversity and ecosystem services. Although monitoring of salinity is relatively common compared to many other water quality parameters, no compilation and harmonisation of available datasets for both surface and groundwater components have been made yet at the global scale. Here, we present a new global salinity database, compiled from electrical conductivity (EC) monitoring data of both surface water (rivers, lakes/reservoirs) and groundwater locations over the period 1980–2019. The data were assembled from a range of sources, including local to global salinity databases, governmental organizations, river basin management commissions and water development boards. Our resulting database comprises more than 16.3 million measurements from 45,103 surface water locations and 208,550 groundwater locations around the world. This database could provide new opportunities for meta-analyses of salinity levels of water resources, as well as for addressing data and model-driven questions related to historic and future salinization patterns and impacts.
Original languageEnglish
Article number231
Number of pages11
Journal Scientific data
Volume7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2020

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