OS Open Rivers Overview
This overview introduces OS Open Rivers and gives context for all users – highlighting key features, providing examples of uses, and listing details such as file sizes, supply formats, etc.
Last updated
This overview introduces OS Open Rivers and gives context for all users – highlighting key features, providing examples of uses, and listing details such as file sizes, supply formats, etc.
Last updated
OS Open Rivers provides a two-dimensional, topologically-structured link-and-node network of Great Britain’s watercourses. A link represents the approximate central alignment of a watercourse. Attribution indicates the flow direction and name of each watercourse.
OS Open Rivers is a generalised product which is automatically derived from Ordnance Survey large-scale data. The nominal usage scale is 1:25 000, with a recommended viewing scale range of 1:15 000 to 1:30 000.
The key features of the OS Open Rivers product are as follows:
Comprehensive coverage of Great Britain's river network.
A topologically-structured link-and-node network.
Water flow direction information.
Classified links which allow you to identify the differences between tidal and inland rivers.
The ability to relate the OS Open Rivers product to the OS MasterMap Networks Water Layer using the watercourse name.
OS Open Rivers supports a wide range of applications that use geographic information. The product can be used alone or in combination with other Ordnance Survey products, such as Terrain 50 or VectorMap District. OS Open Rivers has numerous applications, including but not limited to, the following examples:
Relating information to the river network for both personal and business use.
Simple analytical queries, for example, the overall lengths of larger rivers in Great Britain.
Simple planning around main watercourses using the detailed connectivity and flow (from source to mouth) information.
Regional-level environmental impact assessments, for example, an indication of what towns have rivers passing through them.
Backdrop mapping.
It is important to note that detailed analysis is not supported in OS Open Rivers; this requires the additional detail and complexity available in OS MasterMap Water Network.
