Basin characteristics for sites used in RESTORE Streamflow alteration assessments

This geospatial dataset includes a one-point feature-class shapefile, one-polygon feature-class shapefile, and associated FGDC-compliant metadata to define 193 streamflow and 299 basin characteristics at 1,320 U.S. Geological Survey streamflow gaging stations. Sites included in the dataset either (1) drain to the Gulf of Mexico or (2) are adjacent to watersheds that flow to the Gulf of Mexico and are considered both physiographically similar and valuable for analysis. Drainage area to the sites varies from less than 1 to approximately 67,500 square miles. Data presented describe the streamflow regime (Rossman, 1990; Thompson and Archfield, 2014), climate (Daly and others, 2008), land use and land-use change (Sohl and others, 2014; Sohl and others, 2016), and anthropogenic features. Basins were identified following Hirsch and DiCicco (2015), and daily value streamflow data were retrieved from the USGS National Water Information System (U.S. Geological Survey, 2017). Daily value streamflow data were available beginning in 1892 through the 2016 water year (a 12-month period beginning October 1, for any given year through September 30 of the following year). All characteristics based on time series (streamflow, climate, land use for example) were summarized in terms of period of record and 10 water year increments (for example, 1930 – 1939). Data presented provide a numerical foundation supporting the: (1) development of statistical models of streamflow characteristics; (2) evaluation of spatial and temporal trends in streamflow characteristics; and (3) development of network optimization analysis. Basin characteristics will be used as independent variables to estimate streamflow characteristics (measures of the magnitude, duration, frequency, timing, and rate of change of the annual hydrograph) in a manner similar to Knight and others (2012).
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