Hydrology and Earth System Sciences www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net 1027-5606 1607-7938 13 11 2009 10.5194/hess-13-2241-2009 http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/13/2241/2009/ http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/13/2241/2009/hess-13-2241-2009.html http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/13/2241/2009/hess-13-2241-2009.pdf 2241 2251 2009-11-26 Deriving a global river network map and its sub-grid topographic characteristics from a fine-resolution flow direction map D. Yamazaki yamadai@rainbow.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp T. Oki S. Kanae Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, Japan Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan This paper proposes an improved method for converting a fine-resolution flow direction map into a coarse-resolution river network map for use in global river routing models. 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