Esri has released a robust collection of Web maps that display NOAA forecast streamflow data for the continental U.S.

Esri's multiscale Web map applications allow users to view forecast water flows in real time at high resolution. The maps weave NOAA's recently released National Water Model data and Esri's ArcGIS functionality to provide interactive views of current and future water system behaviors.

"In collaboration with our academic partners, the Esri team supported the development process leading up to the launch of the National Water Model," says Edward Clark, director, Geo-Intelligence Division, National Water Center, NOAA. "We share a common vision for the value that high-resolution water prediction brings to the nation."

Esri maps the flow of water along 2.7 million stream segments in the U.S. river network. The data-rich maps improve NOAA's ability to meet the needs of emergency responders, reservoir operators, ecosystem professionals and floodplain managers by providing detailed information that can anticipate flood and drought conditions. National Weather Service data populates the interactive maps with hourly updates and forecasts for up to 10 days.

Esri's new maps enable users to access a large amount of complex data quickly and easily. Although 10-day, midrange forecasts contain more than 200 million records and short-term forecasts require hourly data refresh, Esri maps automatically integrate and synthesize NOAA data so that users have the real-time information they need at the click of a button.

"These attractive, accessible maps are part of our commitment to improving water awareness — a commitment we made at the White House Water Summit earlier this year," says Esri President Jack Dangermond. "ArcGIS provides a visually engaging way to communicate complex scientific information simply so that anyone can understand it."

Esri plans to continue its investment in water prediction and analysis by releasing an open-source toolkit later this year that will enable ArcGIS users to analyze data and create custom maps from water model records.

About Esri

Since 1969, Esri has provided customers worldwide tools to think and plan geographically. A market leader in GIS, Esri software is used in more than 350,000 organizations including each of the 200 largest cities in the U.S., most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications run on more than 1 million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers. Esri provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server and Internet platforms.