Environmental Modeling Community of Practice

Metadata Hydrologic Unit Boundaries

USGS Hydrologic Unit Boundaries of the Conterminous United States in BASINS (accounting unit, cataloging unit)

Identification Information
Data Quality Information
Spatial Reference Information
Entity and Attribute Information
Distribution Information
Metadata Reference Information
Text Version

Top of Page

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water/OST
Publication_Date: 1998
Title:: Hydrologic Unit Boundaries of the Conterminous United States in BASINS
Online_Linkage:: USGS huc250k <http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?/huc250k> Exit; EPA ESDLS
BASINS model and data <https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/ceam/better-assessment-science-integrating-point-and-non-point-sources-basins>

Description:

Abstract:

This metadata describes various delineations of watershed boundaries being stored in the EPA Spatial Data Library System (ESDLS). These delineations are based on the Hydrologic Unit Maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey Office of Water Data Coordination, together with the list descriptions and name of region, subregion, accounting units, and cataloging units. This metadata set describes the spatial data sets as they exist after downloading the data from ESDLS.

The changes made to the data sets from ESDLS are as follows:

1) Reprojected the ARC/INFO coverages to a geographic projection.
2) Derived accounting unit and cataloging unit layers only from original data.
3) Converted ARC/INFO coverages to Arcview Shapefiles with ARCSHAPE
command in Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) GIS software.

Purpose:

These data sets are intended to support watershed analysis in BASINS.

Supplemental_Information:

References_Cited:

U.S. Geological Survey, 1994. Metadata for Hydrologic units maps of the
Conterminous United States, 1:250,000-scale (nominal), ARC/INFO format.
<http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?/huc250k> Exit

U.S. Geological Survey, 1990. Land Use and Land Cover Digital Data from
1:250,000- and 1:100,000-Scale Maps. Data Users Guide 4, 33 pp, Reston, Virginia.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1996. Metadata for Hydrologic Unit
Boundaries of the Conterminous United States, 1:250,000-scale (nominal), ARC/INFO Format,
http://www.epa.gov/nsdi/projects/catunit.htm

Limitations_of_Data:

These data were originally digitized at a scale of 1:250,000 with some portions of coverage at 1:100,000- and 1:2 million scale. Limitations of the data strictly revolve around this scale input. Use of these boundaries with larger scale data (i.e. 1:24k hydrography) is not recommended as it would be beyond the resolution capabilities of the data set.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: Unknown
Ending_Date: Unknown

Currentness_Reference: Publication date

Status:

Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -125.00
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -66.00
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 50.00
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 24.00

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: CATALOGING UNITS

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: Geographic Names Information System
Place_Keyword: Conterminous United States of America (CONUS)
Place_Keyword: Alabama AL
Place_Keyword: Arizona AZ
Place_Keyword: Arkansas AR
Place_Keyword: California CA
Place_Keyword: Colorado CO
Place_Keyword: Connecticut CT
Place_Keyword: Delaware DE
Place_Keyword: District of Columbia DC
Place_Keyword: Florida FL
Place_Keyword: Georgia GA
Place_Keyword: Idaho ID
Place_Keyword: Illinois IL
Place_Keyword: Indiana IN
Place_Keyword: Iowa IA
Place_Keyword: Kansas KS
Place_Keyword: Kentucky KY
Place_Keyword: Louisiana LA
Place_Keyword: Maine ME
Place_Keyword: Maryland MD
Place_Keyword: Massachusetts MA
Place_Keyword: Michigan MI
Place_Keyword: Minnesota MN
Place_Keyword: Mississippi MS
Place_Keyword: Missouri MO
Place_Keyword: Montana MT
Place_Keyword: Nebraska NE
Place_Keyword: Nevada NV
Place_Keyword: New Hampshire NH
Place_Keyword: New Jersey NJ
Place_Keyword: New Mexico NM
Place_Keyword: New York NY
Place_Keyword: North Carolina NC
Place_Keyword: North Dakota ND
Place_Keyword: Ohio OH
Place_Keyword: Oklahoma OK
Place_Keyword: Oregon OR
Place_Keyword: Pennsylvania PA
Place_Keyword: Rhode Island RI
Place_Keyword: South Carolina SC
Place_Keyword: South Dakota SD
Place_Keyword: Tennessee TN
Place_Keyword: Texas TX
Place_Keyword: Utah UT
Place_Keyword: Vermont VT
Place_Keyword: Virginia VA
Place_Keyword: Washington WA
Place_Keyword: West Virginia WV
Place_Keyword: Wisconsin WI
Place_Keyword: Wyoming WY

Access_Constraints:

None.

Use_Constraints:

None. Acknowledgement of the U.S. EPA would be appreciated.

Native_Data_Set_Environment: Arcview Shapefiles on Windows 95 PC

Top of Page

Data_Quality_Information:

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Chain-node topology present.

Completeness_Report:

(See original metadata in References_Cited section under Supplemental Information)

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:: An earlier version of this coverage (1.x) and was created from undocumented source materials.
Process_Date: 1980 (late 1980's)

Process_Step:

Process_Description: An entirely new version (2.0) made from known source files.
Process_Date: 1994

Top of Page

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Geographic:

Latitude_Resolution: 0.0001
Longitude_Resolution: 0.0001
Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal Degrees

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major_Axis: 6378137
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257

Top of Page

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: ACC.DBF
Entity_Type_Definition: HUC POLYGONS
Entity_Type_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: SHAPE

Attribute_Definition: ArcView internal field

Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: AREA

Attribute_Definition: Area of polygon in square coverage units

Attribute_Definition_Source: Computed

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Floating value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: PERIMETER

Attribute_Definition: Perimeter of polygon in coverage units

Attribute_Definition_Source: Computed

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Floating value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: ACC_

Attribute_Definition: ArcInfo internal field

Attribute_Definition_Source: Computed

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 10
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: ACC_ID

Attribute_Definition: ArcInfo internal field

Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 10
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: ACC

Attribute_Definition: HYDROLOGIC ACCOUNTING UNIT ID

Attribute_Definition_Source: GIRAS DATA

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 6
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: NAME

Attribute_Definition: Hydrologic Unit Name

Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey as FIPS standard

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 40
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: CAT.SHP
Entity_Type_Definition: HUC POLYGONS
Entity_Type_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: SHAPE

Attribute_Definition: ArcView internal field

Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Floating value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: AREA

Attribute_Definition: Area of polygon in square coverage units

Attribute_Definition_Source: Computed

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Floating value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: PERIMETER

Attribute_Definition: Perimeter of polygon in coverage units

Attribute_Definition_Source: Computed

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Floating value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CAT_

Attribute_Definition: ArcInfo internal field

Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: CAT_ID

Attribute_Definition: ArcInfo internal field

Attribute_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: HUC

Attribute_Definition: HYDROLOGIC UNIT ID

Attribute_Definition_Source: GIRAS DATA

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: USGS

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: ACC

Attribute_Definition: HYDROLOGIC ACCOUNTING UNIT ID

Attribute_Definition_Source: GIRAS DATA

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: USGS

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: NAME

Attribute_Definition: Hydrologic Unit Name

Attribute_Definition_Source: U.S. Geological Survey as FIPS standard

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Enumerated_Domain:

Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value
Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: USGS

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:: For definition of drainage basins, there are two principal tabular data elements of interest. The first, "HUC", stands for the Hydrologic Unit Code and includes the 8-digit cataloging unit as assigned to the basin polygon by the U.S. Geological Survey. The second item, "NAME", is provided with this data set to allow a user to perform a temporary join between the basin polygons and display or query basins based on their assigned text names rather than just the basin number (HUC).
Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation: See Supplemental_Information

Top of Page

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: USEPA/Office of Water/OST

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing Address
Address: 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (4305T)
City: Washington
State_or_Province: District of Columbia
Postal_Code: 20460
Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 202-566-0400

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 202-566-0409

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: basins@epa.gov

Distribution_Liability:

Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at Tetra Tech, Inc., no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the accuracy or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data. It is also strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with these data. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency nor Tetra Tech, Inc. shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein.

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name:: Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcView Shapefile

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name: <https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/ceam/better-assessment-science-integrating-point-and-non-point-sources-basins>

Offline_Option:

Offline_Media: CD-ROM
Recording_Format: ISO 9660

Fees: None

Ordering_Instructions:

When requesting data by phone or mail, please inquire about spatial data sets that work with Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS). The BASINS web page has instructions for downloading datasets. It also has a link to The National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (NCEPI), from which BASINS CD-ROMs may be ordered. Each CD-ROM contains the BASINS v2.0 Application and this data set along with others covering the spatial extent of an EPA Region.

Top of Page

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20070611

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary: