The 2024 release of the Global Heat Flow Database (GHFDB): quality assessment, metadata standards, and a century of geothermal data

Neumann, Florian; Norden, Ben; Balkan-Pazvantoğlu, Elif; Elbarbary, Samah; Petrunin, Alexey G.; Elger, Kirsten; Jennings, Samuel; Dergunova, Viktoria; Fuchs, Sven

doi:10.5194/essd-18-4639-2026

Articles | Volume 18, issue 7

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-4639-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-4639-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 7

Data description article

|

06 Jul 2026

Data description article |

| 06 Jul 2026

The 2024 release of the Global Heat Flow Database (GHFDB): quality assessment, metadata standards, and a century of geothermal data

Florian Neumann, Ben Norden, Elif Balkan-Pazvantoğlu, Samah Elbarbary, Alexey G. Petrunin, Kirsten Elger, Samuel Jennings, Viktoria Dergunova, and Sven Fuchs

Data sets

The Global Heat Flow Database: Release 2024 Global Heat Flow Data Assessment Group et al. https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2024.014

The Global Heat Flow Database: Update 2023 Global Heat Flow Data Assessment Group et al. https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2023.008

Global Heat Flow Database Data Template S. Fuchs et al. https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2025.042

Model code and software

Heat Flow Quality Analysis Toolbox V. Dergunova et al. https://doi.org/10.5880/fidgeo.2026.032

Quality-Assessed Measurements, Gridded Products and Kriging Interpolation A. G. Petrunin et al. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.KHAG.2026.004

Short summary

The Global Heat Flow Database grew from 58,302 data points in 2012 to 91,182 in 2024, with enhanced quality assessments. Despite this, gaps in data and methodological details persist, especially in underrepresented regions. The database is crucial for geophysical, geothermal, and environmental research, offering valuable insights into Earth's thermal processes.