About the STARS4Water Metadata Portal

What is the STARS4Water Metadata Portal?

The STARS4Water Metadata Portal is a central discovery platform designed to help water managers, river basin authorities, researchers, and policymakers find datasets relevant to water resources management and climate adaptation. Rather than creating another data repository, the portal aggregates metadata from many existing sources and provides links back to the original data providers. The portal was developed as part of STARS4Water WP2 ("Unlocking and improving data services") to unlock underused datasets from initiatives such as Copernicus, GEOSS, JRC activities, previous EU projects, and regional river basin data sources.

The core philosophy underlying the portal is: Metadata, not data. A key design principle is that the portal does not store most datasets itself. Instead, it functions as a metadata catalogue and discovery service. Metadata records describe datasets and provide links to the authoritative source. The Portal functions solely as a metadata catalogue and discovery service.

This approach was chosen because it:

Improves findability by bringing metadata from many repositories into one searchable environment.
Preserves data integrity because users access the original provider's most up-to-date version.
Avoids duplication of storage and maintenance effort.
Supports FAIR data principles, particularly Findability and Accessibility.

The portal contains metadata describing datasets about, amongst others, hydrology, climate, water quality, water use, and environment. Users can search datasets geographically and thematically.

The portal also contains the metadata of open data produced by STARS4Water. Project-generated datasets have been published in repositories such as Zenodo with Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) and FAIR-compliant metadata, after which their metadata are uploaded to the portal to increase discoverability. FAIR data stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable.

While the metadata are FAIR compliant, data findability (F) is the first element of FAIR data management. Most data in the metadata portal are also accessible (A). Whether they can easily be reused (R) — both from an interoperability (I) and data quality point of view — depends on a match between the user's needs and the data provider's detailed metadata.

User guide

Search functionality

The Stars4Water Metadata portal is designed for intuitive exploration of water-related metadata. Here's how you can get started:

Search the catalogue by searching for words in titles and descriptions. Only single word search is currently supported.
Use the "Clear Filters" button to reset the search.
Search the catalogue by applying the filters on the left-hand side, using the dropdown menus:
- Domain: to only select datasets collected during STARS4Water.
- Topic: navigate through predefined topics/categories such as Hydrology, Climate, and Water Quality for structured browsing.
- Keyword.
- Collection period of the data.
Search the database by using the map and drawing a polygon on the map to search for datasets in a specific area. The geographic coverage of a dataset is one of the associated metadata fields, represented as a polygon. When you select a polygon on the map, all datasets which may have data within that polygon will appear.
Please note that most datasets have global coverage, which explains the large number of datasets positioned in Africa.
Please note that not all datasets contain geographic coverage information. Such datasets hence cannot be found using this search method.

Understanding Search Result Icons

When you search in the portal, results are displayed with different icons to help you quickly identify their type:

Blue Circles: When multiple datasets share the same location, a blue circle with a number is shown. The number indicates how many datasets are linked to that point. This can include datasets at the exact same point or datasets whose polygons cover that location.
Location Pins: For a single dataset, a location pin is displayed. If the dataset represents an area (polygon), the pin is placed at the centre of that polygon.

View Metadata & Access Original Data

Click on any dataset to view detailed metadata, including description, source, and usage rights.
Follow the provided links to access the original data at its source.

Tutorial

A tutorial explaining the metadata portal can be found in The STARS4Water Academy.

Adding data & contact

If you have questions or comments about the metadata portal, please use the Contact form on the project website.

Data-owners interested in having their metadata included in the metadata portal can contact the hosting organisation through the contact form of the Stars4Water project, providing some preliminary detail of the nature and number of data sets.

The portal's team will review requests on a regular basis and, upon acceptance, provide the metadata template.

Disclaimer S4W metadata portal

General

The STARS4Water Metadata Portal ("the Portal") is made available within the framework of the STARS4Water project and facilitated by Stichting Deltares ("Deltares") to improve the discoverability of information, metadata records, datasets, and data services relevant to water and environmental management.

The Portal functions solely as a metadata catalogue and discovery service. Except where explicitly stated otherwise, the Portal does not host, store, own, control, manage, validate, or maintain the datasets, data services, documents, applications, or other resources referenced through the Portal. The majority of resources accessible through the Portal are provided and maintained by independent third-party organisations.

Third-Party Content and External Links

The Portal contains references and links to external websites, datasets, data services, repositories, applications, and information resources operated by third parties. Deltares and the STARS4Water consortium have no control over the nature, content, availability, security, accuracy, legality, quality, reliability, or continued accessibility of such external resources.

The inclusion of a metadata record, hyperlink, service endpoint, dataset, organisation, or resource within the Portal shall not be interpreted as:

an endorsement or recommendation by Deltares or the STARS4Water project;
a certification or validation of the quality, completeness, accuracy, or fitness for purpose of the underlying resource;
a guarantee of availability, accessibility, continuity, or performance; or
an acceptance of responsibility for the content or use of such resources.

Users access external resources entirely at their own risk.

Metadata Availability and Accuracy

Deltares and the STARS4Water consortium make reasonable efforts to facilitate access to metadata and improve data discoverability. However, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made regarding the completeness, correctness, currency, accuracy, reliability, suitability, or usefulness of any metadata record or associated resource.

Metadata records may contain inaccuracies, omissions, outdated information, broken links, or changes introduced by third-party data providers without prior notice.

Neither Deltares nor the STARS4Water consortium shall be liable for any consequences resulting from reliance on metadata published through the Portal in the period after the final submission of the end results of the project.

Responsibility for Data Use

All decisions, analyses, interpretations, models, reports, products, services, publications, and actions derived from datasets, services, or information discovered through the Portal are the sole responsibility of the user.

Users are responsible for:

assessing the suitability of datasets for their intended purposes;
verifying data quality, provenance, completeness, and fitness for use;
reviewing and complying with applicable licences, terms of use, and legal restrictions imposed by data providers; and
performing any necessary validation prior to operational, scientific, commercial, regulatory, or policy use.

Under no circumstances shall Deltares or the STARS4Water consortium be responsible or liable for any loss, damage, cost, claim, liability, or consequence arising from the access to, use of, misuse of, interpretation of, or reliance upon any dataset, service, or information obtained directly or indirectly through the Portal.

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Deltares, the STARS4Water consortium, their employees, partners, subcontractors, funding bodies, and contributors expressly disclaim all liability for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or economic damages arising out of or related to:

the use of, or inability to use, the Portal;
access to or use of linked datasets, services, or external resources;
errors, omissions, inaccuracies, interruptions, or delays in information;
data loss, corruption, or security incidents;
decisions or actions taken based on information obtained through the Portal.

This limitation applies irrespective of the legal basis of any claim, including contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or otherwise.

No Warranties

The Portal is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Deltares and the STARS4Water consortium expressly disclaim all warranties, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, availability, security, or uninterrupted operation.

No guarantee is provided that the Portal or any linked resource will remain available, error-free, secure, complete, or current.

Acceptance

By accessing or using the STARS4Water Metadata Portal, users acknowledge and agree that they do so entirely at their own risk and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this disclaimer or the use of the STARS4Water Metadata Portal shall be submitted exclusively to the competent court in The Hague, the Netherlands, unless mandatory provisions of applicable law require otherwise.