Computer programs for obtaining and analyzing daily mean streamflow data from the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Information System web site

Abstract

For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment, visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://www.usgs.gov/pubprodTo order this and other USGS information products, visit http://store.usgs.gov Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report. AbstractFive computer programs were developed for obtaining and analyzing streamflow from the National Water Information System (NWISWeb). The programs were developed as part of a study by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, to develop a stochastic empirical loading and dilution model. The programs were developed because reliable, efficient, and repeatable methods are needed to access and process streamflow information and data. The first program is designed to facilitate the downloading and reformatting of NWISWeb streamflow data. The second program is designed to facilitate graphical analysis of streamflow data. The third program is designed to facilitate streamflow-record extension and augmentation to help develop long-term statistical estimates for sites with limited data. The fourth program is designed to facilitate statistical analysis of streamflow data. The fifth program is a preprocessor to create batch input files for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency DFLOW3 program for calculating low-flow statistics. These computer programs were developed to facilitate the analysis of daily mean streamflow data for planning-level water-quality analyses but also are useful for many other applications pertaining to streamflow data and statistics.These programs and the associated documentation are included on the CD-ROM accompanying this report. This report and the appendixes on the CD-ROM describe the implementation and use of the programs and the interpretation of results from the programs. The body of this report provides an overview of the five programs included on this CD-ROM. The appendixes are the software manuals for each program. These manuals describe statistical and numerical methods used to implement each program, input-file formats, output-file formats, installation of the programs, and use of the programs. Each appendix is written as a self-contained manual because each program may have many uses alone or in tandem with other programs on the CD-ROM. Each of these programs uses graphical user interface that follows standard Microsoft Windows interface conventions.

Compilation of streamflow statistics calculated from daily mean streamflow data collected during water years 1901–2015 for selected U.S. Geological Survey streamgages

“…These efforts occurred during the 2015-17 period. The report explains how two existing computer programs previously published by the USGS (Granato, 2009) were modified to facilitate regular updates to the data in StreamStatsDB. Program additions include options for filtering data from NWISWeb, streamflow statistics available for output, and types of output files.…”

“…These programs are named "Get National Water Information System Streamflow (Q) files" (GNWISQ) and "Streamflow (Q) Statistics" (QSTATS). These programs were initially developed by the USGS in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (Granato, 2009 Get National Water Information System Streamflow (Q) Files (GNWISQ Version 1.1.1)…”

“…Streamflow statistics are critical for many planning, management, and design activities, including water-supply analysis, habitat protection, bridge and culvert design, calibration of surface-water and groundwater models, waterquality assessments, and design and operation of government, commercial, and industrial facilities others 2004, 2008;Granato, 2009Granato, , 2013. Streamflow statistics also provide information needed to protect people and property from floods as well as to help communities prepare for and minimize the effects of droughts.…”

Software for analysis of chemical mixtures--composition, occurrence, distribution, and possible toxicity

“…The particular implementation of tab-delimited data files used with the mixture software is known as relational database (RDB) files (Manis and others, 1988;Hobbs, 1992;Jerius, 2004). The USGS has used RDB files since the mid-1990s and more recently as an output format for hydrologic data retrieved from the NWISWeb Web site (Granato, 2009).…”

Streamflow record extension for selected streams in the Susitna River Basin, Alaska

“…The Streamflow Record Extension Facilitator (SREF) program (Granato, 2009) For the Susitna River Basin data, log-scale scatterplots of daily values for each site of interest against each prospective index station (appendix A) were inspected for patterns that would require a particular method of analysis. A first-degree-polynomial locally-weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS) curve fitted to the scatterplot revealed a generally good fit of a straight line to the bulk of the data.…”