Dataset of Georeferenced Dams in South America (DDSA) v1.0.2

Recommended citation

Paredes-Beltran, B., Sordo-Ward, A., and Garrote, L.: Dataset of Georeferenced Dams in South America (DDSA), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 213–229, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-213-2021, 2021.

Updated version 1.0.2:

We present version 1.0.2 to the DDSA database, the improvements made to version 1.0.1 are described below:

1. Supplementary table 1: Future Dams in South America has been updated and now 574 future projected dams in South America, 61 under construction for 2020 and 513 planned projects for the future.

Updates made in version 1.0.1:

Version 1.0.1 to the DDSA database, includes improvements made to version 1.0.0, which are described below:

1. New hydrological information attributes have been included:
   1. Aridity index
   2. Residence time
   3. Degree of regulation.
2. A shapefile of watersheds for each dam has been included.
3. Supplementary table 1: Future Dams in South America has been included.

Use of the dataset

Before using the dataset, please notify us (be.paredes@alumnos.upm.es; be.paredes@uta.edu.ec) if you use the dataset so that we can keep track of how it is used and take that into consideration when updating and improving the dataset.

When using this dataset or one of its updates, please cite the DOI of the precise version of the dataset used and also the data description article which this dataset is supplement to (see above). Please consider also citing the relevant original sources when using this dataset.

Description

Dams and their reservoirs generate major impacts on society and the environment. In general, its relevance relies on facilitating the management of water resources for anthropogenic purposes. However, dams could also generate many potential adverse impacts related to safety, ecology or biodiversity. These factors, and the additional effects that climate change could cause in these infrastructures and their surrounding environment, highlight the importance of dams and the necessity for their continuous monitoring and study. There are several studies examining dams both at regional and global scale, however, those that include the South America region focus mainly on the most renowned basins (primarily the Amazon basin), most likely due to the lack of records on the rest of the basins of the region. For this reason, a consistent database of georeferenced dams located in South America is presented: Dataset of georeferenced dams in South America DDSA. It contains 1,010 entries of dams with a combined reservoir volume of 1,017 cubic kilometres and it is presented in form of a list describing a total of 24 attributes that include the dams name, characteristics, purposes and georeferenced location. Also, hydrological information on the dams’ catchments is also included: catchment area, mean precipitation, mean near-surface temperature, mean potential evapotranspiration, mean runoff, catchment population, catchment equipped area for irrigation, aridity index, residence time and degree of regulation. Information was obtained from public records, governments records, existing international databases and from extensive internet research. Each register was validated individually and geolocated using public access online map browsers and then, hydrological and additional information was derived from a hydrological model computed using the HydroSHEDS dataset. With this database, we expect to contribute to the development of new research in this region.

Content

The files included in the Dataset of georeferenced dams in South America DDSA are:

• 1. Dam Information
• 2.1. Dam Hydrological Information - Catchment Area
• 2.2. Dam Hydrological Information - Catchment Mean Monthly Near Surface Temperature
• 2.3. Dam Hydrological Information - Catchment Mean Monthly Precipitation
• 2.4. Dam Hydrological Information - Catchment Mean Monthly Potential Evapotranspiration
• 2.5. Dam Hydrological Information - Catchment Mean Monthly Runoff
• 2.6. Dam Hydrological Information - Catchment Population
• 2.7. Dam Hydrological Information - Catchment Eqquiped Area for Irrigation
• 2.8. Dam Hydrological Information - Aridity Index
• 2.9. Dam Hydrological Information - Residence Time
• 2.10. Dam Hydrological Information - Degree of Regulation
• 3. Dataset Attribute Description
• 4. Dataset Data Source
• 5. Dataset in KMZ format 
• 6. Dataset in SHAPEFILE format (dams)
• 7. Dataset in SHAPEFILE format (dams catchments)
• 8. Supplementary Table 1: Future Dams in South America v1.01