Lough Neagh Network Contribution: High Surface Water Connectivity Areas

Lough Neagh Network Contribution data delineates areas of high hydrological network contribution in Northern Ireland, UK. The dataset was generated by the SciMAP application within SAGA GIS, using inputs from the CEH Land Cover 2007, Met Office average rainfall, and a 5-meter Digital Terrain Model. High contribution boundaries are defined statistically as areas scoring above +1 standard deviation from the mean.

Use Cases

• Identifying high-risk areas for surface water runoff and nutrient transport to Lough Neagh based on land cover and rainfall scores.
• Incorporating hydrological connectivity layers into environmental dashboards for visualization and monitoring.
• Supporting catchment management planning by mapping zones with high network contribution scores.
• Conducting spatial analysis of factors influencing water quality and flow within the Lough Neagh basin.

Strengths

• Derived from authoritative UK sources: CEH Land Cover 2007, Met Office rainfall data, and a 5m DTM.
• Methodology is explicitly described: scores were processed in SAGA GIS and thresholds set using a statistical standard deviation.
• Available under the permissive Open Government Licence, facilitating reuse.

Limitations

• Key metadata is missing: specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided on any platform.
• The dataset's temporal relevance is limited as it relies on land cover data from 2007.
• The 'last updated' date of 2026-04-15 appears to be a future date, indicating a potential metadata error.

Provenance

Source

Government Digital Service (UK), derived from Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) and Met Office data.

Collection Method

Scores exported from the SciMAP application outputs within SAGA GIS.

Time Range

Based on CEH Land Cover 2007; rainfall and DTM time ranges are unspecified.

Freshness

2026-04-15 (Note: This is a future date, suggesting a metadata anomaly)

Geography

Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, specifically the Lough Neagh catchment area.