Federal Standards and Procedures for the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) (4 ed.)

U.S. Geological Survey; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Conservation Service

Federal Standards and Procedures for the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) (4 ed.)

dc.contributor.author	U.S. Geological Survey
dc.contributor.author	U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Conservation Service
dc.date.accessioned	2014-10-07T17:57:17Z
dc.date.available	2014-10-07T17:57:17Z
dc.date.issued	2013
dc.description.abstract	The Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) is a comprehensive aggregated collection of hydrologic unit data consistent with the national criteria for delineation and resolution. This document establishes Federal standards and procedures for creating the WBD as seamless and hierarchical hydrologic unit data, based on topographic and hydrologic features at a 1:24,000 scale in the United States, except for Alaska at 1:63,360 scale, and 1:25,000 scale in the Caribbean. The data within the WBD have been reviewed for certification through the 12-digit hydrologic unit for compliance with the criteria outlined in this document. Any edits to certified data will be reviewed against this standard prior to inclusion. Although not required as part of the framework WBD, the guidelines contain details for compiling and delineating the boundaries of two additional levels, the 14- and 16-digit hydrologic units, as well as the use of higher resolution base information to improve delineations. The guidelines presented herein are designed to enable local, regional, and national partners to delineate hydrologic units consistently and accurately. Such consistency improves watershed management through efficient sharing of information and resources and by ensuring that digital geographic data are usable with other related Geographic Information System (GIS) data. Terminology, definitions, and procedural information are provided to ensure uniformity in hydrologic unit boundaries, names, and numerical codes. Detailed standards and specifications for data are included. The document also includes discussion of objectives, communications required for revising the data resolution in the United States and the Caribbean, as well as final review and data-quality criteria. Instances of unusual landforms or artificial features that affect the hydrologic units are described with metadata standards. Up-to-date information and availability of the hydrologic units are listed at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/technical/nra/dma/?&cid=nrcs143_021630/.	en_US
dc.description.sponsorship	U.S. Department of the Interior	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2013, Federal Standards and Procedures for the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) (4 ed.): U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 11–A3, 63 p. Available on the World Wide Web at http://pubs.usgs.gov/tm/tm11a3/.	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1993/24084
dc.language.iso	eng	en_US
dc.publisher	U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service	en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Book 11, Collection and Delineation of Spatial Data;Chapter 3 of Section A, Federal Standards
dc.rights	open access	en_US
dc.subject	USGS	en_US
dc.subject	Watershed Boundary Dataset	en_US
dc.subject	Lake Winnipeg Basin	en_US
dc.title	Federal Standards and Procedures for the National Watershed Boundary Dataset (WBD) (4 ed.)	en_US
dc.type	book part	en_US