OS MasterMap Water Network Layer
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OS MasterMap Water Network Layer is a three-dimensional digital representation of Great Britain's watercourses. The product includes rivers, streams, lakes, lochs and canals as a series of watercourse network lines. The network lines (links) are attributed to provide a range of information about the section of watercourse they depict. OS MasterMap Water Network Layer will significantly enhance systems used to manage waterways and rivers and the flood risk they pose.
This product is updated quarterly in January, April, July and October.
With this water network data, you can look up the height of any watercourse, along with its flow direction, gradient, length and width anywhere along its length.
As an island, water defines Great Britain. No other visualisation of our nation’s watercourses details the heights of watercourses in relation to sea level with this level of precision.
For planners, for surveyors, for engineers – this layer offers the potential to model in 2D and 3D like never before, thanks to the clarity of river flow, gradient and river widths.
From aqueducts to tunnels, with annotations of flow direction, OS MasterMap Water Network Layer provides useful detailed mapping that includes underground watercourses (inferred from entry and exits).
OS MasterMap Water Network Layer provides a detailed centre line following the curve of the waterway precisely. It includes the coordinates of watercourse sources and where they meet, exactly.
Access to this product is free for Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) Members. Find out if you are a PSGA Member or download a sample of OS MasterMap Water Network Layer data by accessing the product page on the OS website, which has links to all of the relevant resources. Alternatively, you can try out the full product by applying for a Data Exploration license.
OS MasterMap Water Network Layer data is available from our OS Features API, providing location-based insights combining topography data with buildings, transport, and water layer data to create finely detailed datasets with a high degree of accuracy. Find out more on our OS API platform, where you can unlock access to rich geospatial data and integrate OS data and services into your applications.
Access to OS MasterMap Water Network Layer data is also available through the OS NGD Water Theme, providing a three-dimensional structured link and note network of watercourses for Great Britain. Users may find that OS NGD Water Theme data is more accessible, contains greater attribution, and is easier to use with databases and GIS software. Visit the OS NGD docs site to discover how to access the OS NGD and learn what's available to users.
To access additional documentation and resources relating to this product, please refer to the following:
New users should start with the Overview to gain high-level insight into the product. The Getting Started Guide will help you to begin using product data in different software systems. The Technical Specification contains detailed technical insights.
This product is available to try out online using one of our three sets of sample data (Exeter, Newport and Inverness) through the OS MasterMap Product Viewer:
