Streamflow projections for Indian subcontinent river basins

Streamflow data is highly relevant for flood risk analysis, ecological assessment, and water resources management. However, high-resolution vector-based streamflow data for Indian-Subcontinent river (ISC) basins is critically lacking. The finer-scale streamlines are better represented in a vector-based river network than grid-based network. We generated continuous streamflow data from 1901 to 2100 for ISC river basins. We used observed meteorological data from India Meteorological Department (IMD) for historical and Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) climate projections for future simulations. We combined the H08 land surface model and the MizuRoute routing scheme to generate the streamflow at 9579 river segments of ISC river basins. We also examined how streamflow variability across the ISC river basins changes under a warming climate. We further investigated the river segments that are more prone to flood and drought in the future. The findings of this study may help in improving local flood and drought awareness and response more effectively than previously possible due to simulations at very fine river segments.