Watershed Delineation by Arc Hydro Tools

Melese Baye

Abstract: Arc-Hydro is a model developed for building hydrologic information systems to synthesize geospatial and temporal water resources data that support hydrologic modeling and analysis. The model is developed as an extension or Add-on to ArcGIS software. Geo-spatial modelers working with water resource management areas use the Add-on toolbar through sequential drop-down menu tools available in the toolbar. However, if we do not follow the sequence properly, and make a mistake with one tool of the sequence, we would fail to run the entire Arc-Hydro model to obtain the intended delineated watersheds for our research. It is a big problem with novice users, who make such mistakes often. The coding for the Arc-Hydro tools refers to a designated folder for storing the output files (which are referred by the next tool in the sequence) with a pre-defined designated name. if once make a mistake in one step, next time to correct it we must be delete the result of wrong files from the folder, before to the next step. Therefore, in this study, we have developed a comprehensive geospatial model in ArcGIS Model Builder, utilizing ArcHydro tools that are developed individually and available through the ArcGIS developer's library. Finally using this tool, a user can obtain the desired result with three clicks. They have the option to set their input data, output file names, and output folders of their convenience.

Keywords: ArcGIS, Arc-Hydro, Watershed delineation

Edition: Volume 9 Issue 5, May 2020,

Pages: 956 - 961