Vistula River water level data compiled spanning 225 years

Scientists from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Warsaw University of Life Sciences have created a unique database documenting the water levels of the Vistula River in Warsaw. The dataset comprises over 82,000 daily measurements spanning 225 years, from 1799 to 2024.

This collection is considered unique in Europe, comparable only to datasets for major rivers like the Rhine. It tracks the river's transition from the end of the Little Ice Age to the current era of climate warming. To create a unified series, researchers had to standardize data that used various measurement points, reference levels, and units—including Rhenish, Old Polish, New Polish, English, and Russian inches, as well as the metric system.

Researchers also addressed gaps in historical observations by utilizing machine learning to identify correlations between water levels in Warsaw and readings from other locations, such as Toruń. The findings have been described in the journal ‘Earth System Science Data’ much to the benefit of long-term hydrological analysis.