U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological SurveyOffice of Surface Water Reston, VA703-648-5307kries@usgs.gov

StreamStats: By Kernell Ries

A Web Site for Stream Information

Outline

Background

Massachusetts StreamStats

National StreamStats Prototype

Presentations by StreamStats Team

Implementation Plans and

Unresolved Issues

Background

Need for Streamflow Statistics Water resources planning,

management, and permitting by Federal, State, local agencies

Instream flow determinations for controlling pollution and protecting habitat

Designing and permitting facilities such as wastewater-treatment plants, hydropower plants, and water-supply reservoirs

Designing structures such as roads, bridges, culverts, dams, locks, and levees

Problems in Providing Statistics Published streamflow statistics for

data-collection stations are scattered among hundreds of reports nationally

Many publications are out of date and/or out of print

Labor cost for information requests is high

Streamflow statistics are not available everywhere they are needed

Regression Equations

Used to estimate streamflow statistics for ungaged sites

Relate streamflow statistics to measured basin characteristics

Developed by all 48 USGS Districts on a State-by-State basis through the cooperative program

Often not used because of large efforts needed to determine basin characteristics

Users often measure basin characteristics inaccurately, increasing errors in estimates

Example Regression Equation Regression equations take the form:

Q100 = 0.471A0.715E0.827SH0.472

where:

A is drainage area, in square

miles

E is mean basin elevation, in feet

SH is a shape factor, dimensionless

Basin Characteristics Used for Peak Flows

Basin characteristic# of States using

this (including PR)Drainage area or contributing drainage area (square miles) 51

Main-channel slope (feet per mile) 27

Mean annual precipitation (inches) 19

Surface water storage (Lakes, ponds, swamps) 16

Rainfall amount for a given duration (inches) 14

Elevation of watershed 13

Forest cover (percent) 8

Channel length (miles) 6

Minimum mean January temperature (degrees F) 4

Basin shape ((length)2 per drainage area) 4

Soils characteristics 3

Mean basin slope (feet per foot or feet per mile) 2

Mean annual snowfall (inches) 2

Area of stratified drift (percent) 1

Runoff coefficient 1

Drainage frequency (number of first order streams per sq. mi.) 1

Mean annual runoff (inches) 1

Normal daily May-March temp (degrees F) 1

Impervious Cover (percent) 1

Annual PET (inches) 1

Massachusetts StreamStats

Massachusetts StreamStats provides-

Published streamflow statistics, basin characteristics, and other information for data-collection stations

Estimates of streamflow statistics, basin characteristics, and other information for user-selected points on ungaged streams

Massachusetts StreamStats http://ststdmamrl.er.usgs.gov/streamstats/

User InterfaceStreamflow Statistics Database

Statistics Calculation

ProgramGIS Database

Web Application Components

User Interface

Displays ~ 120 map layers Allows adding/subtracting layers one

at a time Zoom, pan, identify Displays data-collection site locations Allows selection of data-collection

site locations and ungaged sites Displays results in a Web browser

window

Statistics Database Includes Descriptive information, such as

station name and number, coordinates, period of record

Previously published streamflow statistics for data-collection stations

Previously published basin characteristics, such as drainage area, total stream length, mean basin slope

GIS Database Includes

Map layers needed to determine drainage boundaries and areas

Map layers needed to measure basin characteristics in regression equations

Map layers needed to locate sites of interest, such as state and town boundaries, streams, and roads

Digital topographic maps (DRG’s) for detailed selection

Statistics Calculation Program Determines drainage boundaries

and measures basin characteristics for user-selected sites

Solves regression equations to obtain estimated streamflow statistics and provides prediction intervals as estimates of errors

Delivers basin characteristics, streamflow statistics, prediction intervals, and maps of user-defined basins to user interface

Benefits

Published statistics are readily available

Ungaged site process takes 5 to 15 minutes

Large collections of maps, equipment, and software are not necessary

Consistent information delivery

Little or no additional error is introduced

Only basic understanding of hydrology, computer science, geographic analysis is needed

Reduced information requests

National StreamStats

Prototype

National Prototype

Prototype will potentially work for any State

Easier to use and with more functionality than the MA application

Currently implemented only for parts of ID

Implementation planned for NH, VT, MA, ID, TN, and KS within a year

In cooperation with ESRI

Functionality

Zoom to street address, geographic name, or coordinates

Display of default base data layers for selected map scale ranges

Evaluate basin boundaries in the map frame

Print maps shown in the map frame Download basin boundary and other

map data More analysis functionality (drainage-

area ratio estimates, weighted estimates, etc.) is planned

Development Strategy Program will run as a dll in ESRI

software (ArcMap, ArcIMS, ArcSDE) Programming done in MS Visual Basic

and XML, based on the ArcGIS Hydro-Data Model and Tools

All GIS data will reside on a single server New streamflow statistics database was

developed The National Flood Frequency Program

(NFF) used to solve regression equations Extensive pre-processing of basin

characteristics to speed computations

StreamStatsDB StreamStatsDB is used to manage streamflow and

basin characteristics for data-collection stations

StreamStatsDB, cont’d

Linked to map in user interface

showing site locations

Built using MS Access and Visual Basic

Contains fields for all streamflow and

basin characteristics that are currently

used, and allows new characteristics to

be added

Data entered by District office

personnel

National Flood Frequency Program NFF will solve regression equations for

StreamStats

Modifications to NFF

Ability to solve regression equations for any flow type

Calculation of prediction intervals

Calculation of drainage-area ratio estimates and weighting with regression estimates

Adding of data base attributes to allow use as a subroutine of StreamStats

Urban equations will not be available in StreamStats

AdditionalPresentations

Dean Djokic, Zichuan Ye (ESRI)

Prototype demonstration

Conceptual design

Integration with ArcHydro Tools

Jacqueline Coles (USGS)

Prototype system configuration

Web deployment

Alan Rea (USGS)

Data requirements and architecture

EDNA approach

Peter Steeves (USGS)

New England approach

Kernell Ries (USGS)

Implementation plans Unresolved Issues Summary

StreamStats Implementation

Plans

Implementation Plan

District offices will complete required work, usually through cooperative funding

StreamStats team will provide guidance and support to Districts

States will be put on line internally to check results

States will be made available to the public when results have been proven acceptable

District Responsibilities

Provide regression equations

Populate the streamflow statistics database

Develop any necessary GIS data

Test the application and summarize results

Potentially develop new regression equations, using GIS data to measure basin characteristics

Approve use of equations on Web

State Implementation Options1. Implement regression equations

firsta. Implement existing equations onlyb. Develop new equations

2. Implement database for data-collection sites first

a. Populate with previously calculated statistics

b. Calculate new statistics

3. Implement database and regression equations at the same time

Long-Term Plan

Include additional States Add drainage-area ratio estimates Add batch processing Add automated update of non-

interpretive streamflow statistics Add methods for regulated streams Add sediment (and possibly other)

data

Internal Issues

Integration with other USGS efforts, such as the National Map, NWIS-Web, SPARROW, TerraServer

Standardized measuring procedures and naming of basin characteristics

Policy for updating streamflow statistics for data-collection stations

Long-term support

External Issues

Links to other applications and data bases, such as EPA’s EnviroMapper, FEMA’s MSC Product Map Search, NRCS’s Lighthouse Project

Software updates (Arc 9, etc.) Technical support of ArcHydro Tools

Summary

StreamStats uses cutting-edge technology to put stream information in the hands of users

Design is based on the ArcHydro Data Model and the functionality of the ArcHydro Toolset

Design is flexible and expandable Implementation for States will be done

through cooperative funding agreements Full implementation will likely take several

years

More information

National StreamStats web page• http://water.usgs.gov/osw/programs/

streamstats.html Massachusetts StreamStats web page

• http://ststdmamrl.er.usgs.gov/streamstats/

NFF Program web page• http://water.usgs.gov/software/nff.html