Data processing in hydrology

Data processing in hydrology refers to the several stages of manipulation that measurements of hydrological processes, taken in the field, are subjected to before they can be efficiently stored and/or made available for analysis. It therefore represents the essential interface between data collection and data use. For the purposes of this definition, data processing does not include all the common forms of analysis that hydrological data are subjected to in order to derive estimates of means, probabilities, extremes, etc.

The basis of a great deal of research and practice in hydrology lies in the data that are collected from field instrumentation in order to quantify temporal and spatial variations in processes. Data collection networks vary from national, operated by state hydrometric agencies for general water resource availability determination, through to local, operated largely by research organizations for very specific purposes. The former frequently involve a great number of...