Esri book highlights analyzing, mapping surface water features

Esri has published its latest book, “GIS for Surface Water: Using the National Hydrography Dataset,” by Jeff Simley, which details how to use geographic information system (GIS) technology to visualize and analyze data sets. Simley is an award-winning cartographer and the former lead of the Hydrography Program at the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The book examines the complexities of surface water systems and shows readers how to use the Esri ArcGIS software, the USGS’s National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) and the Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s NHDPlus dataset to better study and manage the United States’ vast water system.

According to Esri, the book thoroughly examines the representation of water features and their attributes in a GIS and then turns its attention on how that data is structured in the NHD, WBD and NHDPlus datasets. In addition, after seeing how surface water hydrography can be modeled in a GIS, readers can then learn how to use these tools to solve real-world problems, such as protecting and restoring the fisheries habitat in Washington.

The book also offers instructions to guide readers to create surface water flow-volume maps that show how much water flows through any given river system.

“This book is unique in that it is the most comprehensive, authoritative source for the NHD,” said hydrologist David Maidment in the book’s foreword. “But it is more than that: It is a monument to the intellectual craft and dedicated effort of a generation of digital mapmakers who devoted their professional careers to the completion of this enormous task.”