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Computers & Geosciences 34 (2008) 918930 www.elsevier.com/locate/cageo

NRCS GeoHydroA GIS interface for hydrologic modeling$

William H. Merkela, Ravichandran M. Kaushikab,, Eddy Gormanb
a b

US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Beltsville, MD, USA US Department of Agriculture, NRCS, 501 W. Felix St, Bldg 23, Fort Worth, TX 76115, USA Received 24 November 2006; received in revised form 6 April 2007; accepted 29 May 2007

Abstract The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has developed NRCS GeoHydro 9x, a new ArcGIS application, to complement the WinTR20 application and assist USDA eld staff, and other government, private, and foreign organizations. WinTR20 is a storm event hydrologic model used to evaluate impacts of structural and land treatment measures. NRCS GeoHydro 9x, using geographic information systems (GIS) tools and techniques, performs hydrologic modeling on a drainage area to compute its catchments, drainage points, drainage lines, slope, runoff curve number, longest ow path, time of concentration (Tc), and cross-section details. The application acts as a GIS interface to WinTR20 by exporting the results of GIS analyses of the drainage area in the input format of WinTR20. NRCS GeoHydro 9x reinforces the idea that GIS tools and techniques enhance productivity by doing preliminary hydrologic analysis of the drainage area in an objective and accurate manner in a relatively short duration. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: NRCS GeoHydro, GIS, Watershed delineation, Runoff curve number, Time of concentration (Tc), WinTR20

Introduction Before the 1960s, common tools used in hydrology projects for calculations were the slide rule, cardboard cut outs for centroid calculations, hydraulic and pipe sizing, nomographs, and calculators. Hydrologists spent many days, if not weeks, understanding the spatial extent of hydrology projects, calculating its hydrologic parameters, and understanding its environmental impact. Because of
Code available from server at: http://www.iamg.org/CGEditor/ index.htm Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 817 505 6092; fax: +1 817 509 3469. E-mail address: ravi.kaushika@ftw.usda.gov (R.M. Kaushika). 0098-3004/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.cageo.2007.05.020
$

the complexity of the work, shortcuts and limited details were used (Lovell and Atkinson, 2004). Before computer-based hydrologic models and geographic information systems (GIS) were used in hydrology and hydraulic projects, hydrologic practitioners assembled a number of maps (elevation, political boundaries, and highways), imageries (aerial and satellite), stream network, and other data from eld surveys to perform manual preliminary hydrologic analyses such as catchment delineation. The delineation process used for subdividing the area was fairly subjective and had to be veried and corrected iteratively after each step. If inconsistent results were identied, the boundaries were altered to produce consistent results. Computation of additional parameters such as time of

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concentration (Tc), average slope, and runoff curve numbers based on an approximate delineated watershed area were subject to additional estimation and error (Robbins and Phipps, 1996). In the 1970s, Federal agencies such as the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), US Department of Agriculture (USDA)s Soil Conservation Service (SCS, currently, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)), and US Geological Survey developed backwater calculation programs to automate hydrologic calculations. These computer-based hydrologic applications were of signicant help compared with the slide rule methods (Lovell and Atkinson, 2004). Developments in the eld of GIS helped users organize all forms of geographically referenced data as layers. With the release of UNIX ARC/INFO in 1981 by ESRI, hydrologists and civil engineering practitioners were able to view project-specic digital elevation model (DEM), soil, land use, cultural, and hydrologic data spatially. Preliminary hydrologic analysis built into GIS tools allowed engineers to delineate the watershed and analyze different scenarios faster (Lovell and Atkinson, 2004). Apart from viewing project data spatially, hydrologic functions built to perform some of the preliminary work has reduced the level of approximation and subjectivity involved (Robbins and Phipps, 1996). St. John and Randolph (2005) found that use of GIS on any hydrology project dramatically improved the quality, accuracy, and timeliness of the nal product. GIS enabled users to handle a large amount of data in a short time frame, and allowed them to allocate more time towards engineering tasks instead of spending excess time on preliminary tasks, such as catchment delineation. The study indicated qualitatively that the hydrology project completed using GIS would have taken longer to complete if the preliminary analyses were done manually. Benets of GIS in watershed and hydrologic modeling are identied as improved accuracy, exibility, efciency, timeliness, and the ability to perform complex analyses (Ogden et al., 2001). Manually deriving spatial project data from topographic, soil, and land use paper maps in differing scales and extents is time consuming. Because of the complexities involved, hydrologists adopted shortcuts and used minimum details at every step. Performing associated hydrologic

calculations for the project manually takes more time than performing a single solution scenario using a computer, and performing hydrologic calculations manually for additional scenarios is limited because of time and cost constraints. Using GIS for hydrologic modeling is a signicant improvement over manual methods and accurate and consistent results are produced in a shorter time. With the evolution of better hardware and software, hydrologic modeling using GIS has been rened and improved (Lovell and Atkinson, 2004). Applications built using GIS tools and techniques for hydrologic modeling, natural resources conservation, and environment protection have increased because of faster data processing and transfer and improved efciency of GIS software developed by the vendors (Mahalingam and Indrasenan, 2002). From these studies, the following can be inferred:

Before the use of GIS, watershed boundaries were delineated manually using subjective methods and shortcuts to reduce project time and costs resulted in inconsistent results. The time taken by such processes was signicant. Preliminary hydrologic analyses using GIS tools and techniques provide consistent and objective outputs of hydrologic modeling in a relatively shorter period of time.

In 2000, using GIS techniques, NRCS released NRCS GeoHydro for ArcView to help staff members and other professionals worldwide do preliminary hydrologic modeling of a drainage area and generate an output le that could be directly used as an input for the WinTR-20 application (Liu and Merkel, 2005). NRCS GeoHydro for ArcView was based on Arc Hydro for ArcView with custom modications and additional features to suit USDA eld staff members requirements. These features were developed using Avenue scripts, a scripting language associated with ArcView version 3.x. Arc Hydro is a geospatial and temporal data model for studying water resources and runs in ESRIs ArcGIS and ArcView applications. Arc Hydro contains toolsets to perform hydrologic analyses and was jointly developed by ESRI and the Center for Research in Water Resources, University of Texas, Austin (Maidment, 2002). ESRI released ArcGIS 9x in 2004 with new features and rened GIS algorithms. The hydrologic

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modeling community needed a tool similar to NRCS GeoHydro for ArcView. NRCS GeoHydro 9x was planned to incorporate features from Arc Hydro for ArcGIS 9x and to be the next version of NRCS GeoHydro for ArcView. A decision was made to create NRCS GeoHydro 9x instead of adopting Arc Hydro 9x or continue the use of NRCS GeoHydro for ArcView. The reasons were

 

ArcGIS 9x has more extensions as compared with ArcView 3x and provides a smoother user experience in the Windows environment. ArcGIS 9x is more user-friendly to 3-D applications, should there be a need. The ArcView version of NRCS GeoHydro was developed using Avenue scripts; however, the current release of ArcGIS 9x does not support Avenue scripts. There was a need to rewrite these functions to benet from the features present in ArcGIS 9x. Development environments such as Visual Basic (VB) 6.x and Visual Studio.NET (VS.NET) have better debugging facilities than a scripting environment such as Avenue. Further, applications developed using a newer framework allow sharing (or reuse) of components built as dynamic linked libraries. VS.NET was chosen because it provides maximum exibility for reuse and migration into future technologies. A GIS interface to WinTR20 requires only 14 menu selections instead of the more than 50 menu items of ArcHydro. NRCS GeoHydro 9x was designed to have a minimum number of functionally logical categories of user steps obtained by combining two or more users steps of Arc Hydro for ArcGIS 9x.

 

By design, Arc Hydro for ArcGIS 9x requires user input or user step for every unit of work such as AGREE DEM computation, catchment polygon delineation from catchment grid, or drainage point(s) identication, and adjoint catchment processing to name a few. Forcing eld users to respond to many requests could be very cumbersome. Examples of such logical combination of steps are

Process drainage area step in NRCS GeoHydro combines drainage point processing, slope, drainage line processing, adjoint catchment, and longest ow path for catchment steps of Arc Hydro. J HEC-GeoHMS, released by ESRIs Arc Hydro team in collaboration with USACE Hydraulic Engineering Center (HEC), has functions similar to the proposed NRCS GeoHydro application (Maidment, 2002). J HEC-GeoHMS could not be used in place of NRCS GeoHydro because: Most of HEC-GeoHMS functions input parameters are output of Arc Hydro functions, and HEC-GeoHMS requires pre-processing of catchment. NRCS GeoHydro on the other hand, includes functions present in Arc Hydro in a logically consolidated function call, meaning the starting points for HEC-GeoHMS and NRCS GeoHydro are totally different. NRCS GeoHydro is designed to be single analysis ow process unlike multi-option analyses in hydrograph, inltration, and ood routing steps present in HEC-GeoHMS. NRCS Geo-Hydro was designed for engineers who are not necessarily hydrologic specialists (who have background in deciding which of the various hydrograph, inltration, and ow routing are applicable to their watershed being analyzed). WinTR-201 is a well-established and popular model that has been used by a large number of government and private engineers for over 40 years. Use of Arc Hydro and HEC-GeoHMS results in large number of user steps, whereas NRCS GeoHydro has just 20 menu items. Curve number calculation done in NRCS GeoHydro uses a customizable lookup XML le for varying land use codes. NRCS GeoHydro uses a separate land use and soil hydrologic group raster grid to compute the runoff curve number (RCN) for each raster, whereas HEC-GeoHMS uses a single land use/soil-type grid. Five menu items of basin characteristics are consolidated into one user function call in NRCS geohydro.

Catchment processing from stream step in NRCS GeoHydro 9x which combines stream segmentation, catchment grid delineation, and catchment polygon processing steps of Arc Hydro.

WinTR20, Hydraulics and Hydrology. Natural Resources Conservation Service, United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.wsi.nrcs.usda.gov/products/W2Q/H&H/Tools_Models/ WinTR20.html

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HEC-GeoHMS has export functions to produce output les in TR55 format, whereas NRCS GeoHydro produces output les in WinTR-20 format. J Arc Hydro for ArcGIS 9x and NRCS GeoHydro for ArcView were used as models for NRCS GeoHydro for ArcGIS 9x development. Functions needed such as RCN generation, time of concentration calculation, and cross section rating tables are not present in Arc Hydro 9x. Hence, a new application for USDA was needed.

Based on compelling reasons, NRCS GeoHydro 9x was developed using Visual Basic.NET (VB.NET) to derive benets from its user-friendly development environment. Use of VB.NET will allow an easy migration to future releases of ArcGIS and VB.NET. NRCS GeoHydro 9x NRCS GeoHydro 9x was built on ESRIs ArcGIS ArcObjects, ApFramework 9x, and Arc Hydro 9x components. Functions such as extraction of the region of interest, RCN generation, Tc, and cross-section computations were added. NRCS GeoHydro 9x requires Spatial Analyst license for raster processing and other computations. All functions of NRCS GeoHydro 9x can be used with ArcView license. It is not necessary to use privileged licenses such as ArcEditor or ArcInfo.

NRCS GeoHydro 9x for ArcGIS 9x like its predecessor ArcView version (NRCS GeoHydro for ArcView) uses a stream network, a DEM, land use, and hydrologic soil group raster grids to compute the catchment polygons, RCN values, drainage characteristics (points and lines), the slope, and cross-section information for the dened drainage area. Based on the computations, the NRCS GeoHydro 9x generates an output le to match the input le format of the WinTR-20 application. Functions present in the WinTR20 application are periodically enhanced without modifying the input le format, which enables the users to take advantage of the enhancements. Recently, WinTR-20 incorporated the Muskingum-Cunge equation after performing tests to study ood routing and generation of dimensionless unit hydrographs (Merkel, 2000). Incorporation of the Muskingum-Cunge equation was also done in the TR-55 model for consistency (Visser and Scheer, 2002). These enhancements were transparent to NRCS GeoHydro for ArcView users and, similarly, will be transparent to NRCS GeoHydro 9x users. Materials and Methods The schematic workow of the NRCS GeoHydro 9x application is presented in Fig. 1. As indicated before, NRCS GeoHydro has new functions and functions borrowed from Arc Hydro or ESRI Spatial Analyst. A list of all NRCS

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of NRCS GeoHydro application.

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GeoHydro functions borrowed from Arc Hydro or Spatial Analyst is present in Table 1. To highlight the salient features of NRCS GeoHydro 9x, a drainage area in Kent and Providence Counties, Rhode Island is used (Fig. 2). The proposed extract extent is indicated by a square graphic element extending into both the counties. In NRCS GeoHydro 9x user can select an area of interest from a larger downloaded dataset to perform hydrologic processing. The extent of raster and vector data available for download from public domain is usually hundreds of square kilometers or more. A typical drainage area selected for hydrologic modeling is usually smaller than the downloaded extent to minimize approximations involved in the delineation process and to minimize hardware processor issues, such as array or stack overow. To accommodate the modeling needs, users can select a region by outlining an area of interest (AOI) using the drawing shape tool provided in ArcGIS 9x. Upon selecting the AOI, users can extract the region by creating new set of raster grids and vector feature shapeles using the Extract Subset by Graphic menu option of NRCS GeoHydro 9x. In this example, the area occupied by downloaded stream network and the raster grid is approximately 340 km2 (131 mile2). The approximate size of the area is 20,094 m (65,928 feet) in length (east west
Table 1 NRCS GeoHydro functions and their origin Name of borrowed NRCS GeoHydro function Generate stream grid from DEM, NHD Original name (borrowed from) AH Arc Hydro, SA Spatial Analyst AGREE DEM (AH), ll sinks (AH), ow direction (AH, SA), ow accumulation (AH, SA), and stream grid (AH) Flow path tracing (AH) Stream segmentation (AH), catchment grid delineation (AH), and catchment polygon processing (AH) Drainage point processing (AH), slope (AH, SA), drainage line processing (AH), adjoint catchment processing (AH), and longest ow path for catchments (AH) Point delineation (AH)

direction) and 16,900 m (55,447 feet) in width (north south direction). The approximate area of the extracted region in this study is 14.02 km2 (5.41 mile2). NRCS GeoHydro 9x does not have a size limitation on the area of watershed that can be analyzed or studied. If the area of the watershed is too large, then the processing time might increase depending on the available hardware resources. NRCS GeoHydro 9x user guide recommends drawing a larger graphic box to somewhat larger than the area of their interest to ensure that their catchments are not cut-off by the extract boundary. If the user extracts an area smaller than the area of interest inadvertently, then the user might have to start all over again with a larger extract area. The extract function creates a stream network vector and new raster grid layers for the AOI in a new folder. Names of the extracted layers and folder (name of map data frame) are also prexed with an ext_ to distinguish them from the original source layers (Fig. 3). Details about the DEM and other input data used in this study are presented in Table 2. Using the data listed in Table 2, the user can perform preliminary hydrologic analyses. The functions and features of the NRCS GeoHydro 9x application explained are intended to be brief. The readers are advised to consult the users manual for detailed explanation of the steps and ways to interpret the results. The input data layers listed in Table 2 were used as starting points to perform the hydrologic analyses using the functions present in NRCS GeoHydro 9x. The NRCS GeoHydro 9x application, in a single step (Extract Subset by Graphic item in the preprocessing menu) performs the following preliminary hydrologic analyses:

Trace streams of interest Generate catchment polygons

Process drainage area

Reconditioning the DEM using AGREE techniques to modify the raster elevation values to be consistent with the stream ow line. The AGREE steps require raising or dropping the elevation values and smoothing the values of the DEM raster to match the stream ow. AGREE DEM2 is used in the computations of ow direction, ow accumulation, and indirectly
2

Select watershed outlet point

Hellweger, F.,1997. AGREE DEM (Digital Elevation Model) surface reconditioning system, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX /http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/maidment/gishydro/ ferdi/research/agree/agree.htmlS.

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Fig. 2. Source layers from Kent and Providence Counties in Rhode Island.

Fig. 3. Extracted layers with a prex of ext_ used in this study.

catchment delineation. Forcing the stream location using the AGREE technique ensures more accurate stream location and length. If the

AGREE technique is not used, the stream location can be determined from the ow direction and ow accumulation of the DEM.

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924 Table 2 List of input data Data Original DEM Drainage area DEM Stream network Land use grid Soils hydrologic group Source USGS website Extracted from original DEM Clipped from NHD, USGS. USGS USDANRCS Area 339.52 km2 $14.02 km2 $14.02 km2 Clipped to required area from SSURGO Dimensions 20 094 m 16900 m 3750 m 3750 m 3750 m 3750 m Converted to raster from vector layer W.H. Merkel et al. / Computers & Geosciences 34 (2008) 918930

However, the elevation values from the AGREE technique are not used in the cross-section values or watershed slope calculations. Calculating and lling the sinks in the drainage area using the AGREE DEM as an input layer and using ESRI Spatial Analyst Hydrology ll sink routine. The ow direction (8 directions) raster is computed from the elevation values in the DEM. The ow direction function present in ESRIs Spatial Analyst Hydrology is used to compute this raster. The ow accumulation grid values for each of the raster cells are computed from the ow direction raster and other previously generated raster grids using the ow accumulation function present in the Spatial Analyst extension.

Table 3 Integer values for parameters used in processes Parameters (process) Sharp drop raise (AGREE) Smooth drop raise (AGREE) Stream buffer (AGREE) Fill threshold (ll sinks) Stream threshold (stream denition) Suggested values 100 10 5 10 or ll all 5001000

The catchment polygon is created using the catchment raster grid obtained from the previous step.

Elevation raise and drop values, sink threshold, and stream threshold values are obtained from the user as integers at the beginning of the preprocessing step. The user denes these values out of experience and knowledge of the watershed area they are modeling. The suggested integer values for burning the stream, lling the sinks, and the stream threshold along with the names of the processes in the hydrologic preprocessing step are presented in Table 3. Additional hydro pre-processing in subsequent steps creates the following outputs:

Stream, link, and catchment raster grids are calculated from the ow direction, ow accumulation, and stream threshold values. Stream threshold value is a user-entered integer value to identify raster cells whose count of contributing raster cells is greater than the threshold value. Cells that exceed the threshold are coded as streams.

The results of the hydrologic preprocessing are highlighted in Fig. 4. A land area from which runoff contributes to a stream or a river is referred to as the catchment area. As an example, the land area that contributes to Broad River is called Broad River Catchment or Broad River Watershed (Patra, 2002). Watershed and catchment are interchanged by the authors depending on their schools of thought. When the watershed area is further subdivided for better analyses, the subdivided areas are referred to as sub-areas. In Arc Hydro, a catchment is dened as the result of subdivision of a basin into elementary drainage areas based on a set of consistent rules. Arc Hydro makes a small distinction between the catchment and watershed and denes catchment as a bounded area whose runoff contributes to a single stream or ow line, whereas a watershed can include any number of streams. Since the catchment area has a single stream, it will also have a single outlet (or drainage) point. The single stream and the outlet point in a catchment are known as the drainage line and drainage point, respectively. Therefore, each catchment has its unique drainage line and drainage point and is associated with a

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Fig. 4. AgreeDEM, stream network, and catchment polygons.

single ID value. These ID values serve as the primary keys in the geodatabase linking the attribute tables of catchment, drainage line, and drainage point layers (Maidment, 2002). In the next user step, NRCS GeoHydro 9x computes NRCS RCN based on land use and hydrologic soil group codes using a lookup table. The soils were classied into four hydrologic soil groups based on their potential to allow runoff groups A (low runoff), B (moderately low runoff), C (moderately high runoff), and D (low inltration and high runoff potential) (Patra, 2002). The lookup values were derived from the SCS (currently NRCS) data (US Department of Agriculture, 1986). The lookup values used in the NRCS GeoHydro 9x application are present in an external XML le and can be edited by the users to suit their specic needs. The instructions to edit the XML le are present in the user manual. Fig. 5 shows an example of the NRCSLookup.xml le. NRCS RCN is used in the computation of runoff from a given drainage area as displayed in Eqs. (1) and (2). P 0 :2 S 2 Q , P 0 :8 S (1)

land use code and the hydrologic soil group code as indicated in Eq. (3). New raster value 1000 land use Cd 1 soil group Cd. 3

Using the new raster value (Eq. (3)), the lookup XML le is used to compute the RCN associated with the land use and hydrologic soil group code. The RCN identied is stored in a new RCN grid. The extent, cell size, and properties of the RCN grid raster are the same as the land use and hydrologic soil group raster grids. Using the resulting RCN grid, the weighted average RCN value of each catchment polygon is computed by using the zonal statistics function present in ESRIs Spatial Analyst. These average RCN values are inserted in a new column in the catchment attribute table. The NRCS GeoHydro 9x application, in one user step, creates the following layers while calculating drainage area characteristics:

  

where Q is the runoff, mm; P the rainfall, mm; S the potential maximum retention after runoff begins, mm   1000 S 25:4 10 , (2) CN where CN is the runoff curve number. The RCN generation function creates a new raster grid whose values are a combination of the

Drainage point layer is created by identifying an outlet point of each catchment polygon. Drainage line layer is created by identifying a unique stream for a catchment polygon. Drainage line and point layers are uniquely associated with the catchment polygon features by their ID (DrainID and GridID) values. For example, a catchment with a GridID value of 4 will contain a drainage line and drainage point with DrainID values of 4. The slope of the DEM is calculated as a percentage using the slope function present in

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Fig. 5. A view of NRCSLookup.xml le.

the Spatial Analyst. The result of the slope function is stored in a raster grid format. The NRCS GeoHydro 9x application calls the slope function in Spatial Analyst and calculates the average slope value in each catchment using the zonal statistics function present in Spatial Analyst. The average slope for each catchment is stored as a new column in the catchment attribute table. Adjoint catchment function identies all the upstream catchments whose runoff drains through each outlet point in the drainage area. This is the same function present in Arc Hydro but rewritten in VB.NET using ApFramework. Longest ow path layer is created by directly executing the longest ow path function built in Arc Hydro.

will be stored as another Watershed layer by the Arc Hydro function. NRCS GeoHydro 9x allows the use of 24 h rainfall data for seven return periods of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 years. The data are provided in tabular form for each county in the eastern US and the users can select the rainfall data for the appropriate county. Before extracting the input le for WinTR-20, the user can set basic channel geometry coefcients and the method to compute the time of concentration. The channel depth and width are calculated based on the drainage area at the specic location. With the resolution of generally available DEM (10 or 30 m), good channel dimensions are not derivable. However, channel characteristics are computed using the power equation as shown in Eq. (4) (Dunne and Leopold, 1978): Y a Db a, (4)

The results of the drainage area processing and menu items for the previously mentioned steps are shown in Fig. 6. Once drainage characteristics are calculated, NRCS GeoHydro 9x uses the point delineation function from Arc Hydro 9x to select an outlet point to dene a sub-area for additional hydrologic processing using WinTR-20. The selected sub-area

where Y is the bankfull ow depth or top of width; Da the drainage area, mile2; a the power curve regression coefcient; b the power curve regression exponent. Transect lines can be drawn across the drainage line in certain catchment areas (indicated using an

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Fig. 6. Adjoint catchments, drainage lines, and drainage IDs.

Fig. 7. Cross-section and results presentation.

arrow in Fig. 7). Elevation values along the transect line are computed using the values from the DEM. Results of the cross-section prole selection can be plotted in a graph. The NRCS GeoHydro 9x application computes discharge volume using Mannings equation as

indicated in Eq. (5) (Patra, 2002). Computed values are stored in an attribute table inside a geodatabase. 1 1=2 Q AR2=3 S f , n (5)

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Fig. 8. User-dened watershed ready for processing by WinTR20.

Fig. 9. Input le name for WinTR20 and WinTR20 controller.

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where Q is the discharge, m3/s; n the Mannings roughness coefcient; R the hydraulic radius, m; A the area of hydraulic cross section, m2; Sf the slope of the stream, m/m. Once the parameters are set, NRCS GeoHydro 9x calculates the longest ow path (in current map units), time of concentration (in hours), and the area (in km2 and mile2) for each catchment. Time of concentration (Tc) is the time taken for the runoff to travel from the hydraulically most distant point of a catchment to its outlet point. Tc for each catchment is computed using the NRCS Lag equation (Eq. (6)) (Kent, 1973): Tc L0:8 1000=CN 90:7 , (6) 440:764Y 0:5 where Tc is the time of concentration, h; L the longest ow path, m; CN the runoff curve number; Y the average slope of the catchment. 440.764 constant in SI (metric) units (1140 in foot, pounds, and seconds (FPS) units). The velocity method of computation for the time of concentration will be included in the future releases of NRCS GeoHydro. The attributes of the sub-areas identied by clicking on an outlet point in the preceding Select Watershed Outlet Point step are extracted into a TR20Input layer. The NRCS GeoHydro 9x application extracts the relevant attributes from the TR20Input layer to the WinTR20 input le format. The extracted layer (TR20Input) and menu items associated with the WinTR20 processing are shown in Fig. 8. Users can set the name of the output le in a format that can be used by WinTR20. The NRCS GeoHydro 9x application executes WinTR20 application from the Open WinTR20 Controller/ Editor menu item. The options are shown in Fig. 9. Discussion NRCS GeoHydro 9x using GIS techniques and tools performs hydrologic analyses using a DEM, stream network, land use, and the hydrologic soil group data associated with a region to delineate the drainage area and calculate catchment attributes. As indicated in the previous studies, to perform these calculations manually would have taken a much longer period of time, been subjective, and potentially error prone. This study indicates that if given the same starting point and parameters, such as threshold values,

the catchment delineation results obtained by using NRCS GeoHydro would be nearly the same as compared with manually performing catchment delineation process. As in every system, users should understand the assumptions and limitations of the process. The NRCS GeoHydro user manual describes the requirements, results, and limitations of each function. NRCS GeoHydro 9x computes the average RCN, time of concentration, longest ow paths, and other attributes of each catchment as required by WinTR20. These attributes are extracted to an export le to be used with the WinTR20 application. NRCS GeoHydro 9x can also call the WinTR20 application to perform additional hydrologic processing such as ood routing, generation of hydrographs, and other ow parameters for that drainage area. Hence, it is appropriate to say that NRCS GeoHydro 9x is a GIS interface for WinTR20 in the ArcGIS 9x environment. During user tests of NRCS GeoHydro 9x, the time taken to perform hydrologic analyses and generate a WinTR20 compatible le of the extracted area took no more than 60 min. Within this time frame, the users were able to rerun some of the steps using different threshold and integer values to simulate eld conditions. This signicant savings in the project time will help in the allocation of resources to work on other important activities such as model calibration and alternative analyses. NRCS GeoHydro 9x reinforces that GIS tools and techniques will be used for efcient and more accurate hydrologic modeling in the future. Conclusions The following is a summary of NRCS GeoHydro 9x, including the features and benets:

Using GIS techniques, NRCS GeoHydro 9x performs consistent, objective and fast catchment delineation, ow characterization, and other attribute calculations for a given drainage area that, done manually, could have taken a long time, been subjective, and less accurate. Custom modications reduce the number of steps required for identifying the catchment, characterizing the drainage area, and delineating a user identied watershed for the benet of the eld users.

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NRCS GeoHydro 9x calculates Tc, average NRCS RCN, cross-section rating table, and slope for each catchment in the drainage area. NRCS GeoHydro 9x generates an output that can be used as an input le to perform additional hydrologic analyses using WinTR20. WinTR20 can be executed from the NRCS GeoHydro 9x application. Thus, NRCS GeoHydro 9x acts as a GIS interface to WinTR20. NRCS GeoHydro 9x manages output data in different folders without overwriting the existing result sets by the efcient use of the underlying ApFramework functions created by the ESRIs Arc Hydro team. NRCS GeoHydro 9x allows the use of more accurate DEM data such as LIDAR and 10-m DEMs. This assists in better catchment delineation and more accurate hydrologic modeling. This is a signicant improvement over the ArcView version of NRCS GeoHydro that did not allow the use of any elevation raster except that of a 98-foot grid. NRCS GeoHydro 9x was able to derive benet from new features present in ArcGIS 9x and a robust development environment such as Visual Studio.NET.

References
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These conclusions highlight NRCS GeoHydro 9x as a GIS interface to WinTR20, the benets of GIS tools and techniques in analyzing the drainage area, and reinforce the idea that GIS tools and techniques can be used for objective, accurate, and faster preliminary hydrologic analyses. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank ESRI Arc Hydro team members, particularly Dr. Zichuan Ye, for training, support, and patience during the initial development phase of the NRCS GeoHydro 9x application. The authors express their gratitude to the management of the USDA, NRCS, National Cartographic and Geospatial Center (NCGC), Fort Worth, Texas, for their continued support during the entire development phase. The authors thank Ms. Su Liu for her contribution to the project. The authors also thank Dr. Suling Zhao, Dr. Brent Duncan, Dr. Thanh Pham, Mr. Steve Farwell, and Ms. Suzi Self for their input while drafting this paper.