Abstract

Improving Access to Water Information: The NWIS Web Services Snapshot
Track: Water Resources
Authors: Sally Holl

The NWIS Web Services Snapshot Tool for ArcGIS enables rapid access to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water Information System (NWIS), a database containing hydrologic information for more than 1.5 million surface water, groundwater, and atmospheric monitoring sites throughout the United States, some with a record of more than 100 years. NWIS data are considered the "gold standard of hydrologic information and are accessed daily by the public.

The Snapshot Tool is an ArcMap Add-In that allows users to query NWIS Web Services which provide site information, water-quality, instantaneous streamflow, and daily streamflow measurements and retrieve a "snapshot (subset) of the data to a local personal geodatabase. The relational structure of the geodatabase and added convenience functionality such as domains eliminate the laborious process of reconstructing a workable geodatabase and interpreting database codes, thus allowing a user to immediately begin working with the data.