Arc Hydro
The book
I have "Arc Hydro, GIS for Water Resources" dated 2002 edited by David R. Maidment. It is for surface water.
Now there's a newer book "Arc Hydro for Ground Water", 2011 but I don't have that one. Aquifers, wells, and subsurface water.
Where to get the software
The book came with a CDROM but it's old. Instead of even looking at it, download the correct version of Arc Hydro for your version of ArcGIS Desktop from http://downloads.esri.com/archydro/archydro/
Do I want the 32-bit or 64-bit version? I installed 64-bit "Background Geoprocessing" so I am trying 64-bit first.
How to
- Watershed basin delineation with LiDAR
- Precipitation and runoff
- Water rights
- Linear referencing
Water budget
Some guy in 1600's did a paper that said amount of water flowing into the sea was about the same as the rainfall. (Citation needed.) How did he get the numbers? I figure it must have been a pretty rough estimate.
Can I use modern tools to do my own estimate?
Given that
- Input: a watershed basin contains the rainfall.
- Output: river(s) are the outflow.
Inputs:
- Find the area of the watershed.
- Find the annual rainfall for the area.
Outputs:
- Find the flow rates and volumes for the natural features.
- Find volumes for man-made features (outfalls).
- Calculate total volume.
The process:
- Pick an area. I need good data. Local water agency + USGS stream data + GIS.
- Build a model.
- Run the model.
- Look at results
- Refine the model.
- Go to step 3.
Area: Since I have spent so much time hiking and geocaching here, let's try the Novato Creek watershed
Data sources:
Resources
ESRI Hydrology community page http://resources.arcgis.com/en/communities/hydro/
Arc Hydro for Ground Water wiki: http://archydrogw.com/Main_Page
GIS For Water Resources: http://www.esri.com/industries/water_resources/
