02 July 2026
ICTS-Doñana launches two new web portals providing public access to historical and real-time hydrometeorological data
The two platforms allow users to explore, visualise and download high-resolution environmental data. Hydromet provides near real-time hydrometeorological information from the Doñana marshes at five-minute intervals, while Meteo Palacio offers access to a historical meteorological dataset spanning more than 45 years of continuous observations
Hydrometeorological Tower at Honduras del Burro (Doñana National Park, Huelva). Photo: J. Manuel Vidal-Cordero / ICTS-Doñana, EBD-CSIC
The ICTS-Doñana, Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures operated by the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC), today launched two new open-access web portals providing public access to environmental data from Doñana. The first, Hidromet, focuses on monitoring the hydrology and meteorology of the Doñana National Park marshes. The second, Meteo Palacio, provides access to one of the longest-running meteorological records in the protected area, with continuous observations dating back to 1978. Together, these platforms make high-resolution environmental data available to researchers, land managers, the media and the general public, providing essential information for understanding how this internationally important wetland functions and responds to global environmental change.
“Having detailed, open-access data helps us better understand Doñana’s ecosystems and monitor how they respond to environmental change. It also supports scientific research while making this information more accessible to society,” says Eduardo Escobar, web developer for the ICTS-Doñana Data and Metadata Team.
A unique infrastructure for environmental monitoring in Doñana
The Hydromet portal integrates data collected through a network of automated monitoring stations distributed across the Doñana Biological Reserve, recording key environmental variables such as air temperature, rainfall, solar radiation, wind, humidity and water level. With a temporal resolution of just five minutes, these observations allow researchers to analyse in great detail the hydrological and climatic processes that drive one of Europe's most valuable natural ecosystems. Data are collected by automatic sensors and dataloggers installed at strategic locations throughout the reserve, transmitting information continuously with an approximate 24-hour latency.
The platform provides access to both raw data and aggregated time series at hourly, daily and monthly intervals, allowing users to visualise interactive graphs and compare monitoring stations through an intuitive map-based interface. Users can also download the data in open CSV format together with their associated metadata, or access them through a REST API, facilitating their reuse in scientific research, applications and analytical tools.
This system enables the monitoring of key environmental processes such as the seasonal flooding cycle of the marshes, microclimatic dynamics and extreme weather events, providing a robust foundation for research in ecology, hydrology, climate change and protected area management.
The platform is complemented by Meteo Palacio, a second web portal providing access to the historical records of the Doñana Palace meteorological station, with more than 45 years of continuous observations since 1978. This is the most comprehensive long-term meteorological dataset available for Doñana and its surrounding area, containing temperature and precipitation records collected through systematic manual observations. It represents an exceptional resource for analysing long-term climate trends within the protected area.
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Manual meteorological station at Doñana Palace (Doñana Biological Reserve, Huelva). Photo: J. Manuel Vidal-Cordero
Beyond their scientific value, these web portals provide an objective and up-to-date source of information for tracking issues of public interest, including the flooding status of the marshes throughout the year, droughts, floods, heatwaves and changing rainfall patterns. Open access to these data also enhances environmental communication about the protected area and brings knowledge of one of UNESCO's Biosphere Reserves closer to the public.
Open science serving research and society
All data are freely available under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licence, allowing them to be reused for scientific, educational or commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged. This reflects the commitment of the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC) to open science and the FAIR principles, ensuring that data are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable.
The project forms part of the monitoring, scientific assessment and knowledge enhancement measures included in the Doñana Action Framework, coordinated by the Commissioner for the Water Cycle and Ecosystem Restoration of Spain's Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. Development of the platform began under the PENELOPE project, funded through the NextGenerationEU programme and Spain's Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, with the aim of increasing the value and accessibility of the extensive environmental datasets generated by ICTS-Doñana through public funding.
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Hydromet interface, the new public web portal providing access to hydrometeorological data collected by the network of automated monitoring stations across the Doñana Biological Reserve.
