- General - definitions of the quality flags
- General - how often is the Hydrometric data updated?
- General - what is the difference between checked and unchecked data?
- General - how can I download the data?
- General - how accurate is the data?
- General - what is sub-daily data?
- General - what is a water day?
- General - is all the Hydrological data recorded in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)?
- General - I have an abstraction licence. Can I use this information?
- Rivers - why is Real-Time Flow data only available for a small number of stations?
- Rivers - there are differences between the data available on the Environment Agency’s website and the National River Flow Archive, which time series should I use?
- Rivers - why do river levels or flow sometimes increase or decrease unexpectedly?
- Rivers - what is the difference between river level and river flow?
- Rivers - is river flow always a function of river level?
- Rivers - why is 15 minute (instantaneous) flow data only available for a small number of stations?
- Groundwater - why are there sometimes differences between dipped and groundwater telemetered data at the same site?
- Groundwater - what is borehole depth?
- Groundwater - what does MAOD mean?
- Groundwater - what is the difference between dipped, logged and telemetered data?
- Water Quality - why do the Water Quality sites record different variables?
- Water Quality - how are the Water Quality sites selected?
- Water Quality - how is the data different to the Water Quality Archive data?
- Water Quality - what Water Quality Data is available?
- Water Quality - how often do we take readings?
- Water Quality - why are some sites closed?
General - how accurate is the data?
Created: 15 November 2018 Updated: 30 March 2023
We work hard to provide you with accurate information. Because the measurements are sent straight to our website they are initially unchecked and may occasionally be incorrect. There may also be occasions when data will not have been downloaded from a monitoring station; and results will therefore not appear on our website until the next time data is collected. If there are persistent problems with incorrect or missing data we may temporarily suspend a site until the issues have been resolved. After a period of time the data is checked for plausibility by a hydrometric expert. During the check the expert will label the data with one of our quality flags.
This can result in changes to long periods of data. It is therefore recommended that you download the full time period you are interested in each time before you undertake any analysis.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, neither the Environment Agency, nor its employees or agents can be held responsible for any inaccuracies or omissions, whether caused by negligence or otherwise.