GSDA:Hydrography Data

From XMS Wiki - http://wikis.aquaveo.com/xms/

1 Stream Depths, Flow Rates, and Forecasts
2 Rivers, Lakes, and Seas
3 Stream Data Overview
4 Hydrographic Waterbody Overview
5 Stream Data Tips
6 Hydrographic Waterbody Tips

Stream Depths, Flow Rates, and Forecasts

USGS Water Watch

Obtain stream stage data from the USGS WaterWatch

Water Watch offers real-time stage and discharge data for about 3,000 stream gages. Plus, it is linked to NWIS-Web, which furnishes surface and ground water data, as well as water quality data.

Advantages:: Easy-to-use graphical map allows users to access data for a gaging station in a couple of clicks. Users can quickly access a list of all stations within a state.

Help - Obtaining stream-stage data from WaterWatch

USGS NWISWeb

Obtain stream stage data from the USGS NWISWeb

NWISWeb offers an extensive amount of data, including surface and ground water data, as well as water quality data.

Advantages:: Users can search for a gaging station by its name, ID number, State, Drainage Basin, and more. Use this site if you need advanced search capabilities.

Help - Obtaining stream-stage data from NWISWeb

USDA/NRCS

Obtain stream forecast data from the USDA/NRCS

The USDA/NRCS offers stream forecast data as well as current water supply maps.

Help - Obtaining stream forecast data from the USDA/NRCS

Rivers, Lakes, and Seas

webGIS

Obtain hydrographic data from WebGIS

WebGIS provides data in shapefile and standard DLG formats

Help - getting hydrographic data from WebGIS

ESRI Census TIGER 1995

Obtain hydrographic data from ESRI Census 2000 TIGER

ESRI and the U.S. Census Bureau offer hydrographic data in shapefile format for ArcView or ARC/INFO

Help - Obtaining hydrographic data from ESRI Census TIGER 2000

USGS/EPA

Obtain hydrographic data from the USGS/EPA

The USGS/EPA offers hydrographic data for each CU (cataloging unit) in the US in either ESRI/ARC or USGS/SDTS format.

Help - Obtaining hydrographic data from the USGS/EPA

Stream Data Overview

Stream stage simply refers to the water depth in a stream or river. The water depth is related to the flowrate and rating curves (plots of stage vs. flowrate) have been created for many streams and rivers. Available data sources can give real-time (i.e., current to the moment) stream-stage data whereas other sources give historical figures along with statistical data such as median flowrates etc. Some examples are given below for the Provo River in Utah. Another important flow data type are flow-duration curves (also called reliability curves) which give engineers an idea of what flowrates can be expected a certain percentage of the time. An annual hydrograph is required to create a flow-duration curve which is shown in the third figure. Streamflow data used for forecasting is also available for specific streams or for regions in general.

Graph showing stream stage (depth) vs. time.

Graph showing flowrate vs. time (a hydrograph) for the same river in the above figure.

An annual hydrograph for the Provo River for station # 10163000.

Hydrographic Waterbody Overview

By definition, hydrography is the study and survey of rivers, streams, creeks, springs, wells, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, oceans, seas, bays and estuaries with respect to their tides, flow characteristics, and navigability. Much of the available hydrographic information is in a format compatible with a GIS such as ArcView. Locating streams and other water bodies may be essential in creating a good model.