Department Systems Analysis, Integrated Assessment and Modelling

Camels Switzerland

Camels-CH overview

We present CAMELS-CH (Catchment Attributes and MEteorology for Large-sample Studies – Switzerland), a large-scale hydro-meteorological dataset for Switzerland and its neighboring countries. Covering 331 catchments, about one-third of which extend into Austria, France, Germany, and Italy, the dataset captures the diverse landscapes of Switzerland, including mountains, karst regions, and cultivated areas. The catchments are influenced by various hydrological regimes, such as glacier-, snow-, or rain-dominated systems.

CAMELS-CH (Höge et al., 2023; available at doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7784632) includes 40 years of data (1981–2020), featuring daily records of streamflow, water levels, precipitation, air temperature, and snow water equivalent data starting from 1998. Additionally, it provides annual land cover and glacier change data for each catchment. The static attributes cover topography, climate, hydrology, soils, geology, land use, and human impact. This dataset complements similar publicly available datasets, offering comprehensive data from Switzerland, often referred to as the "water tower of Europe."


Extensions to include hourly data and chemistry data are currently in progress.

Team

Dr. Fabrizio Fenicia Tel. +41 58 765 5440 Send Mail
Thiago Victor Nascimento PhD student Tel. +41 58 765 6775 Send Mail
Marvin Höge

Marvin Höge

Publications

CAMELS-CH: hydro-meteorological time series and landscape attributes for 331 catchments in hydrologic Switzerland

We present CAMELS-CH (Catchment Attributes and MEteorology for Large-sample Studies – Switzerland), a large-sample hydro-meteorological data set for hydrologic Switzerland in central Europe. This domain covers 331 basins within Switzerland and neighboring countries. About one-third of the catchments are located in Austria, France, Germany and Italy. As an Alpine country, Switzerland covers a vast diversity of landscapes, including mountainous environments, karstic regions, and several strongly cultivated regions, along with a wide range of hydrological regimes, i.e., catchments that are glacier-, snow- or rain dominated. Similar to existing data sets, CAMELS-CH comprises dynamic hydro-meteorological variables and static catchment attributes.
CAMELS-CH (Höge et al., 2023; available at doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7784632) encompasses 40 years of data between 1 January 1981 and 31 December 2020, including daily time series of stream flow and water levels, and of meteorological data such as precipitation and air temperature. It also includes daily snow water equivalent data for each catchment starting from 2 September 1998. Additionally, we provide annual time series of land cover change and glacier evolution per catchment. The static catchment attributes cover location and topography, climate, hydrology, soil, hydrogeology, geology, land use, human impact and glaciers. This Swiss data set complements comparable publicly accessible data sets, providing data from the “water tower of Europe”.
Höge, M.; Kauzlaric, M.; Siber, R.; Schönenberger, U.; Horton, P.; Schwanbeck, J.; Floriancic, M. G.; Viviroli, D.; Wilhelm, S.; Sikorska-Senoner, A. E.; Addor, N.; Brunner, M.; Pool, S.; Zappa, M.; Fenicia, F. (2023) CAMELS-CH: hydro-meteorological time series and landscape attributes for 331 catchments in hydrologic Switzerland, Earth System Science Data, 15(12), 5755-5784, doi:10.5194/essd-15-5755-2023, Institutional Repository

Contact

Dr. Fabrizio Fenicia Tel. +41 58 765 5440 Send Mail