SAEON Observations Database WebAPI
Programmatic REST/OData API for the SAEON Observations Database, exposing sites, stations, instruments, sensors and verified time-series observations for South African environmental and hydrological monitoring, queryable without obvious key requirements.
observationsapi.saeon.ac.za
At a glance
- Region
- South Africa (Africa)
- Coverage
- National
- Access
- Free
- Category
- Research Institute
- Last updated
- 2026
What's inside
- hydrology
- time series
- environmental observations
What you can do with it
Typical work that data of this type supports.
- 01
Design flows
Estimate 1-in-50 and 1-in-100 year floods for bridges, culverts and spillways.
Because it has: hydrology
- 02
Low flows
Set environmental flows and check what is left in the river in a dry year.
- 03
Model calibration
Calibrate and test catchment models against observed flow.
Where AI adds value
Ideas for machine learning and AI agents built on this kind of data.
- 01
Flow forecasting
Train LSTM-style models on past records to forecast river levels and flow days ahead.
- 02
Ungauged basins
Combine with catchment data to estimate flow where there is no gauge.
- 03
Automatic QC
Flag gauge errors, shifts and gaps before they reach a report.
Machine access and documentation
Open API
OpenAPI/Swagger and OData endpoints; query portal at observations.saeon.ac.za/query/data
Licence: Open data
Listed in our registry of open water APIs, which WaterDataGPT can query live.
Related water data
- SAEON Observations DatabaseAfrica | Free
- EFTEON Spatial Data (Expanded Freshwater & Terrestrial Environmental Observation Network)Africa | Free
- Open Data South Africa Toolkit - Water & Climate ResourcesAfrica | Free
- SAEON Data Portal (catalogue)Africa | Free
- Agence du Bassin Hydraulique du Sebou - Data Supply ServiceAfrica | Paid
- Agence du Bassin Hydraulique du Souss-Massa (ABHSM)Africa | Limited
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