Lw. Martz et J. Garbrecht, AUTOMATED EXTRACTION OF DRAINAGE NETWORK AND WATERSHED DATA FROM DIGITAL ELEVATION MODELS, Water resources bulletin, 29(6), 1993, pp. 901-908
This paper discusses a computer program which extracts a number of wat
ershed and drainage network properties directly from digital elevation
models (DEM) to assist in the rapid parameterization of hydrologic ru
noff models. The program integrates new and established algorithms to
address problems inherent in the analysis low-relief terrain from rast
er DEMs similar to those distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey for
7.5-minute quadrangles. The program delineates the drainage network f
rom a DEM, and determines the Strahler order, total and direct drainag
e area, length, slope, and upstream and downstream coordinates of each
channel link. It also identifies the subwatershed of each channel sou
rce and of the left and right bank of each channel link, and assigns a
unique number to each network node. The node numbers are used to asso
ciate each subwatershed with the channel link to which it drains, and
can be used to control flow routing in cascade hydrologic models. Prog
ram output includes tabular data and raster maps of the drainage netwo
rk and subwatersheds. The raster maps are intended for import to a Geo
graphical Information System where they can be registered to other dat
a layers and used as templates to extract additional network and subwa
tershed information.