Nicaragua Waterways from OpenStreetMap for Flood Risk Modeling

OpenStreetMap exports provide water features across Nicaragua, including rivers, streams, canals, lakes, and ponds. The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) compiled this data, which was last updated on 2026-05-14. Completeness varies by region, with urban areas typically well-mapped and remote areas potentially incomplete.

Use Cases

• Model flood-risk based on the mapped network of rivers, streams, and canals.
• Conduct watershed analysis using the spatial distribution of lakes, ponds, and water bodies.
• Create an environmental basemap context for planning or research using the water features.
• Cross-reference OSM waterway data with local field knowledge for validation purposes.

Strengths

• Data covers multiple water feature types including rivers, streams, canals, lakes, and ponds.
• Available in multiple geospatial file formats including GEOPACKAGE, KML, SHP, and GEOJSON.
• Sourced from OpenStreetMap, a free, collaborative global mapping project.

Limitations

• Completeness varies by region; remote areas may be incompletely mapped.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

OpenStreetMap

Collection Method

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 21:26:19.472232; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Nicaragua