Global Flood Monitoring System (GFMS) - University of Maryland
NASA-funded experimental near-real-time global flood detection system using TRMM/GPM IMERG precipitation in a 1/8-degree hydrological runoff and routing model (50N-50S). Provides flood detection, streamflow, surface water storage and inundation maps, downloadable in NetCDF/ASCII and KMZ/JPG.
flood.umd.edu
At a glance
- Region
- United States (Global)
- Coverage
- Global (50N-50S)
- Access
- Free
- Category
- Academic
- Last updated
- 2026
What's inside
- Flood detection
- Streamflow
- Inundation
- Precipitation
Terms explained
What you can do with it
Typical work that data of this type supports.
- 01
Hazard maps
Map flood-prone areas and who and what is exposed.
Because it has: Flood detection
- 02
Model validation
Check flood models against observed events.
- 03
Design flows
Estimate 1-in-50 and 1-in-100 year floods for bridges, culverts and spillways.
Because it has: Streamflow
Where AI adds value
Ideas for machine learning and AI agents built on this kind of data.
- 01
Flood extent from SAR
Segment flooded areas in radar imagery, even through cloud.
- 02
Depth estimates
Learn flood depth from terrain, rainfall and past events.
- 03
Flow forecasting
Train LSTM-style models on past records to forecast river levels and flow days ahead.
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- Caravan Dataset Record (TU Delft Research Portal)Global | Free
- Caravan Large-Sample Hydrology Dataset (4TU.ResearchData)Global | Free
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