Cuban Water Features from OpenStreetMap for Flood Risk Analysis

OpenStreetMap exports provide water features across Cuba, including rivers, streams, canals, lakes, and ponds. The data is compiled by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and was last updated in May 2026. Completeness varies, with urban areas typically better mapped than remote regions.

Use Cases

• Model flood risk based on the distribution of rivers, streams, and water bodies.
• Conduct watershed analysis using the network of waterways and canals.
• Create environmental basemaps with context layers for lakes and ponds.

Strengths

• Data is sourced from OpenStreetMap, a free, collaborative global mapping project.
• Covers multiple water feature types tagged with `waterway`, `water`, or `natural=water`.
• Available in multiple geospatial formats including GEOPACKAGE, KML, SHP, and GEOJSON.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to OpenStreetMap, with remote areas potentially incomplete.

Provenance

Source

OpenStreetMap

Collection Method

Volunteer-contributed mapping data exported by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 11:53:37.909496; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Cuba