Belfast Lough Network Contribution: High Surface Water Flow Areas

Network contribution area scores identify zones with high potential for surface water flow into river networks in Northern Ireland. The scores were calculated within SAGA GIS using inputs from the CEH Land Cover 2007 map, Met Office average rainfall data, and a 5-meter Digital Terrain Model. High contribution areas are defined as those scoring above one standard deviation from the mean.

Use Cases

• Identifying high-risk areas for surface runoff and potential flooding based on land cover, rainfall, and topography.
• Visualizing critical hydrological zones in web maps and dashboards for environmental monitoring.
• Informing land-use planning and conservation strategies to manage water connectivity in river catchments.
• Integrating with other geospatial layers for watershed analysis and hydrological modeling.

Strengths

• Derived from established, authoritative input sources: CEH Land Cover 2007, Met Office rainfall data, and a 5-meter DTM.
• Available under the permissive OGL-UK-3.0 license, facilitating reuse and analysis.
• Cross-platform presence on uk_data and eu_open_data indicates recognized utility and accessibility.

Limitations

• Core input land cover data is from 2007, which may not reflect current land use conditions.
• Specific column names, data size, and row counts are not provided in any source, limiting understanding of the data structure.
• Author and detailed methodology are not specified, reducing traceability.

Provenance

Source

OpenDataNI (suggested by uk_data platform organization field).

Collection Method

Exported from SciMAP application outputs within SAGA GIS, based on a synthesis of land cover, rainfall, and elevation data.

Time Range

Analysis is anchored to the CEH Land Cover 2007 dataset.

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-07-08 according to uk_data platform, though this future date may be an error or placeholder.

Geography

Covers Northern Ireland, specifically the Belfast Lough area.