An Overview of the National Hydrography Dataset

Malie Beach-Smith
Hawaii Department of Health
Honolulu, HI

National Data Sets
Tuesday March 6, 2012 - 3:15 to 4:30 pm

The National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) is a comprehensive set of digital spatial data that contains information about surface water features such as lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, canals, dams and gages. Its rich set of attributes is continually maintained through system-wide revisions, a stewardship program, and contributions from the user community.

The NHD was designed to be simple enough for anyone with basic GIS skills to use, yet robust enough to allow for powerful geospatial analysis. These analyses are possible because the NHD contains a flow network that allows for tracing water upstream or downstream. It also provides a framework for linking scientific information such as water discharge rates, water quality, and aquatic population. These qualities give the NHD unique analytical powers for a number of scientific applications in the study of hydrology, pollution control, resource management, and fisheries biology.

This presentation will provide an overview of the structure of the NHD and its framework for linking scientific data to the NHD drainage network. Find out why the current generation of scientists and cartographers are adopting the National Hydrography Dataset as the standard for hydrography data. Hear how local partnerships continue to evolve this dataset to meet the challenges facing the earth sciences for the remainder of the century and beyond.