Update of UNEP GEMS/Water Global Freshwater Quality Archive

The GEMS/Water Data Centre has updated the UNEP GEMS/Water Global Freshwater Quality Archive which is published on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13881899).

The archive is freely available for download, presenting an additional and easily accessible source of GEMStat data. It includes all GEMStat data that is available under the GEMStat OPEN data policy (equivalent to Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0) and allows the data utilization for all purposes, implying correct attribution of the dataset.

The update now includes over 50 million measurements (more than 80% of all GEMStat data) on 622 water quality parameters, covering almost 23,000 stations in 42 countries over the time period from 1906 to 2024. An overview off the stations and countries included in the dataset is given on the map to the right.

A world map of GEMStat stations that are included in a dataset published on Zenodo. The map uses color-coded dots to indicate the locations of different water monitoring stations. Light blue dots represent river stations, dark blue dots indicate lake stations, red dots mark reservoir stations, green dots show wetland stations, and orange dots denote groundwater stations. Most river stations are concentrated in North America, Europe, India and Argentina. Lake and reservoir stations are mainly found in Europe and India. Groundwater stations are densely clustered in Mexico and parts of Europe. The map includes a legend in the lower left corner explaining the station types and a footer with the UNEP, GEMStat and IGRWGC logos and program names.

Global map of GEMStat stations that are included in the dataset published on Zenodo.

Additional data that is shared with GEMStat under our LIMITED data policy (equivalent to Creative Commons license CC BY-NC 4.0), which makes the data only available for non-commercial purposes, can be downloaded via the GEMStat portal or via email to (for larger data requests of more than 600 stations).