Introduction 1

1
Introduction

The ArcGIS Hydro Data Model provides a framework for integrating geospatial and
temporal data describing surface water hydrography and hydrology.
In this chapter:
Need for a Hydro Data Model
Objectives and scope of the model
Outline of the book

Need f or a Hydr o Dat a Model
Natural water systems such as streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries are treasured features of our
landscape. They support abundant wildlife and a rich array of vegetation. They gather water from
throughout the landscape and convey it to the seas and oceans. People like to live near water. We
depend on water to sustain our lives, to carry away our wastes, to power our homes, to provide us
with recreation, to provide avenues for our commerce. However, nature can exact a cruel revenge
when devastating floods destroy in hours the labor of decades. The earth is today sustaining a
greater population living better lives than at any time in human history, but population growth and
economic development have to be balanced constantly with the capacity of our natural heritage of
water resources to sustain growth and development.
Hydrography
All topographic maps contain hydrography, the blue lines that signal to the map reader the
meandering path of a river, the shoreline of a lake, or the location of the coastline. Even the most
ancient maps depict rivers and coastlines. Formally speaking, hydrography is defined as the
description, study and charting of bodies of water, such as rivers, lakes and seas
1
. Topographic
maps also contain hypsography, the contour lines showing the elevation and shape of the land
surface. The hydrography and hypsography have an intimate relationship with one another because
the drainage of water through the landscape is a powerful force in shaping the land surface terrain.
Also, the character of the land use, whether urban, agricultural or rural, affects water flow through
the landscape in an important way. Map information is critical to determining the linkages between
land and water systems.
In recent years, an important transformation has taken place as GIS has been used to convert paper
map products into digital data layers. The internet is serving as a convenient mechanism for
widespread distribution of such information. Recent years have also witnessed a dramatic increase
in the capacity to characterize the landscape by using remote sensing. Satellite and aerial
photography, and products derived from this imagery, have become available in useful forms in a

1
Websters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1984
2 ArcGIS Hydro Data Model
continually increasing volume. Indeed, it sometimes appears that the rate of expansion of available
information is greater than the capacity of computers to store and process that information. The
degree of precision and detail of the digital description of the natural landscape is continually
increasing.

Raster graphic image of hydrography and hypsography

Hydrology
The natural partner of the study of water bodies is the study of water movement through them.
This is the domain of hydrology, which can be formally defined as a science dealing with the
properties, distribution, and circulation of water on the surface of the land, in the soil and
underlying rocks, and in the atmosphere
1
. Hydrologic data are obtained from field monitoring
Introduction 3
stations, such as streamflow and raingage recorders, and climate stations, which record through time
the variations in water flow and related quantities. The physical laws that govern water flow and
transport of constituents in water are captured in dynamic computer models, calibrated by
comparison with observational data. These models attempt to simulate how water moves through
the landscape and how water properties change as it does so. Obviously, it is necessary to
characterize the nature of the landscape with parameters and data to make such simulation possible.
Hydrology differs from hydrography in the scope of its focus, dealing with atmospheric, surface,
and subsurface water, while hydrography is mostly concerned with surface water. Also, hydrology
is primarily concerned with defining the properties and movement of water, while hydrography
defines the nature of the environment through which water moves. Hydrologic data are measured
at a few points in space but vary rapidly through time. GIS description of hydrography and related
data, is spatially intensive and changes little in time. The common ground where hydrography and
hydrology meet is in the description of surface water systems. By building a data model
synthesizing concepts and data from hydrography and hydrology, a basis is created for obtaining a
deeper understanding of surface water systems.

Hydrologic Cycle numbers refer to the annual volumes of water in the cycle
relative to the annual volume of precipitation on the land surface.

Obj ec t i ves and Sc ope of t he Ar c GI S Hydr o Dat a Model
The term Hydro in the title ArcGIS Hydro Data Model was chosen to convey the idea that the data
model seeks to describe a synthesis of key concepts in hydrography and hydrology. It is meant to
be an essential data model, not an exhaustive data model, that is, the intent is to capture those
concepts at the core of the subject, and not to load down the data model structure with an excessive
number of object classes and descriptive attributes. Further descriptive attributes can easily be
defined and added to existing object classes by the data model user. The ArcGIS Hydro Data
Model structure can also be customized and extended by creating new object classes, as shown for
4 ArcGIS Hydro Data Model
flood plain mapping in Chapter 11 of this book. The ArcGIS Hydro Data Model is a particular
configuration of the general purpose geospatial database provided by ArcInfo. At the outset of the
data modeling effort, three objectives were established: (1) mapping of water features, (2) linear
referencing on the river network, and (3) dynamic modeling of water resources. The first and third
of these objectives, related to hydrography and hydrology, have already been discussed.
The second objective, linear referencing on the river network, refers to building a GIS network
model through rivers and water bodies, and then using the addressing schemes applicable to
network models to enable the geographic location of entities on the network. Traditionally, river
addressing has been done by means of river mile or kilometer distances measured upstream from
the mouth of a river, or by river feet or meters measured upstream or downstream along the river
within a particular river reach. More recently, the National Hydrography Dataset has introduced the
idea of a relative addressing location as the percent distance along a particular river reach. The
ArcGIS Hydro Data Model is built around the Hydro Network, which provides a secure structure for
creating any of these addressing schemes. The connectivity of the Hydro Network, and the
addressing schemes built upon it, allow correct sequencing of water flow through the landscape. In
other words, the Hydro Network integrates key elements of the GeoDatabase so that they function
in an integrated manner, rather than as isolated entities in data layers.

Objectives of the ArcGIS Hydro Data Model
The ArcGIS Hydro Data Model describes natural water systems and not constructed water
infrastructure, such as water supply, wastewater collection and storm sewer systems. A separate
data model called ArcFM Water has already been developed by ESRI to describe water
infrastructure systems. It should also be noted, that while the model data structures lend themselves
to the depiction of data from aquatic ecology and geomorphology, those subjects were not a prime
focus during the design effort. Moreover, this data model has no explicit data structures for aquifers
or other groundwater features. The current ArcGIS Hydro Data Model is focused on the description
of surface water hydrology and hydrography.


Introduction 5

Out l i ne of t he Book
The book is presented in 12 chapters, divided into four groups:
Chapters 1 and 2 introduce the data model and describe the conceptual framework used to
design it.
Chapters 3 to 7 describe the five components of the data model: Hydro Network,
Catchments and Watersheds, River Channels, Hydro Features, and Time Series. Each
chapter presents the object classes, attributes and relationships used for that component, and
illustrates these with examples taken from particular data sets.
Chapters 8 to 10 present three applications of the data model: to the Lower Colorado River
Basin, to the City of Austin, and to the Trinity-San Jacinto Coastal Basin. The Lower
Colorado application shows a typical river basin with rivers, lakes, dams, streamgages, and
watersheds draining to them. The City of Austin application deals with the micro detail
necessary for depiction of urban water systems the Hydro Network is built using
information from aerial photogrammetry. The Trinity-San Jacinto Coastal Basin application
shows how the data model is used in areas of complex coastal drainage where drainage to
water bodies is the focus of interest, rather than to points on a river network.
Chapters 11 and 12 complete the presentation by describing how the core data model can be
changed and adapted to fit different circumstances. Chapter 11 shows how the data model
can be customized by adding new classes and attributes for the purpose of constructing a
FEMA flood plain map. Chapter 12 details methods for deploying the data model with
various types and levels of information.

Components of the ArcGIS Hydro Data Model