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High-resolution global topographic index values

Publisher
Environmental Information Data Centre
Updated
30 July 2026
Topic
Not set
Licence
Not set

Summary

The topographic index is a hydrological quantity describing the propensity of the soil at landscape points to become saturated with water as a result of topographic position (i.e. not accounting for other factors such as climate that also affect soil moisture but are accounted for separately). Modern land surface models require a characterisation of the land surface hydrological regime and this parameter allows the use of the TOPMODEL hydrological model to achieve this .This Geographic Information System layer is intended for use as topographic ancillary files for the TOPMODEL routing model option within the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) land surface model. The topographic index variable here is directly comparable to the compound topographic index available from United States Geological Survey's Hydro1K at 30 sec resolution. PLEASE NOTE: This dataset is a correction to a previous version which was found to contain errors ( https://doi.org/10.5285/ce391488-1b3c-4f82-9289-4beb8b8aa7da ). In the previous version all pixels north of 4.57 degrees south were shifted consistently 9.3 km to the west. This version is correctly aligned at all points. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/6b0c4358-2bf3-4924-aa8f-793d468b92be

Data links

Link Format Preview Updated
Supporting information ZIP 30/7/2026
Download the data 30/7/2026

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
25 July 2026
Harvest GUID
6b0c4358-2bf3-4924-aa8f-793d468b92be
Extent (Latitude)
90° to -90°
Extent (Longitude)
-180° to 180°
Dataset reference date (publication)
2015-03-03
Frequency of update
notPlanned
Access constraints
This product, High-resolution global topographic index values, has been created with use of data from the HydroSHEDS database which is © World Wildlife Fund, Inc. (2006-2013) and has been used herein under license. WWF has not evaluated the data as altered and incorporated within, High-resolution global topographic index values, and therefore gives no warranty regarding its accuracy, completeness, currency or suitability for any particular purpose. Portions of the HydroSHEDS database incorporate data which are the intellectual property rights of © USGS (2006-2008), NASA (2000-2005), ESRI (1992-1998), CIAT (2004-2006), UNEP-WCMC (1993), WWF (2004), Commonwealth of Australia (2007), and Her Royal Majesty and the British Crown and are used under license. The HydroSHEDS database and more information are available at http://www.hydrosheds.org
Responsible party
(author, pointOfContact, publisher, custodian); Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research (author)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng