Hydrology

by Ruth Gustafson — November 9, 2021

Hydrology

by Ruth Gustafson — November 9, 2021

Hydrology

by Ruth Gustafson – November 9, 2021

Welcome to the UC Davis Library subject guide for hydrology. This guide provides links to key information resources in hydrology, hydrogeology, earth system processes, and water policy and management.

FOR UCD students, faculty, and staff:   With the re-opening of campus, feel free to book an appointment with Ruth for assistance in using these resources or for any questions you may have.   Ruth will only have Zoom appointments for Fall Quarter 2021.  (Exceptions will be made if in-person is the only/best option for the requestor.)

Book an APPOINTMENT with Ruth

Off-Campus Access

  • To access licensed library resources from off-campus, please use the library VPN.

 

Ruth Gustafson

Student Services
Student Services and Researcher Services Librarian

ragustafson@ucdavis.edu

530-752-1883

In this Guide:

Library Catalogs

Searching in a library catalog requires looking for broader topics such as stream flow modelling or aquifer recharge rather than the more specific AI models stream flow forecasting  or California aquifers artificial recharge.

  • UC Library Search: UCD Library Catalog setting
    Replacing UCD Library Catalog on July 27, 2021, the new UC Library Search includes all of the UC library collections.   This setting is specifically for the UC Davis libraries including (for the first time) the holdings of the Law Library. If you Sign in (on top right corner) using your UCD login and Kerberos passphrase, you are prompted with your loan period, can renew books online, and request items that have been checked out to another borrower, or are in storage.

 

  • Understanding Call Numbers

    Author: Library Instruction Services, Shields Library

    Library of Congress Classification is used for all of the UCD libraries except the health sciences libraries (which use NLM — National Library of Medicine — classification). Learn about how books are arranged in the UCD libraries with this guide.

    Date: 2004

Archives, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias

These are federal and international sources of information.  See California Water Resources for state and regional information.

Encyclopedia of Estuaries
Encyclopedia of Lakes and Reservoirs
Encyclopedia of Snow, Ice and Glaciers
Encyclopedia of Water Science
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Hydrology

Comprehensive reference guide with complete definitions of terms in hydrogeology and other fields closely related to water practice.

Water Glossary

Glossary of water-related terms from the California Department of Water Resources.

Water Resources Collections and Archvies

The Water Resources Collections & Archives (WRCA) acquires, preserves, and provides access to materials that document water-related issues throughout the United States and beyond, with a particular emphasis on issues affecting the state of California.  The physical archives are located at UC Riverside.

Water Science Glossary of Terms

Water-related terms compiled from a number of sources by the US Geological Survey (USGS).

Atlases, Data, Government Information & Maps

These are federal and international sources of information.  See California Water Resources for state and regional information.

Global Runoff Database

Global database of river discharge data from the Global Runoff Data Center which is an International data center operating under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Ground Water Atlas of the United States

Describes the ground-water resources of regional areas that collectively cover the 50 States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

National Water Model

The National Water Model (NWM) is a hydrologic model that simulates observed and forecast streamflow for the continental United States.

Surf Your Watershed

Data for watersheds from the EPA searchable by geographic location.

USGS Streamer

Visualize water flow through major streams in the United States by tracing them upstream to their source or downstream to where they empty.

Water Data

Data tables from The World’s Water series published by the Pacific Institute.

Water Resources of the United States

Water resources is one of seven science mission areas of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS works with partners to monitor, assess, conduct targeted research, and deliver information on a wide range of water resources and conditions including streamflow, groundwater, water quality, and wateruse and availability.

Water Topics

From the EPA’s Office of Water. Includes informative articles, educational resources, grant information, and regulatory reports.

AQUASTAT

AQUASTAT is “FAO’s global information system on water resources and agricultural water management. It collects, analyses and provides free access to over 180 variables and indicators by country from 1960. AQUASTAT draws on national capacities and expertise with an emphasis on Africa, the Near East, countries of the former Soviet Union, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. AQUASTAT plays a key role in the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goal 6 that sets out to ‘ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’, and in particular indicators of target 6.4 on water stress and water use efficiency.”

California Water Resources

Aquapedia

The Water Education Foundation’s online water encyclopedia contains vetted information about the places, people and topics key to water in the West.

CADWR Land Use Viewer

Provides access to statewide and county land use survey data sets for the past 30 years.

California Data Exchange Center (CDEC)

The CDEC operates an extensive hydrologic data collection network including snow reporting gages and and precipitation and river stage sensors for flood forecasting.

California Department of Water Resources (CADWR)

DWR manages California’s water resources, systems, and infrastructure, including the State Water Project (SWP).

California WaterBlog

Informative blog on California water topics from the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. 

California Water Plan

The California Water Plan is the State government’s strategic plan for managing and developing water resources statewide.

California Water Science Center

California water data from the US Geological Survey.

California Water Virtual Tour

This tour is a compilation of videos describing the physical, legal and water management issues in the California water landscape.  From the UC Davis Cooperative Extension Water Management website.

Disadvantaged Communities Mapping Tool

Tool from the Department of Water Resources that shows disadvantaged communities through out the state.

Groundwater Information and Educational Resources

From the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Maven's Notebook

California water news

PPIC Water Policy Center

The Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center which focuses on three critical challenges to California water: water supplies, healthy and resilient ecosystems, and droughts and floods.

Water and Drought News (Sacramento Bee)

California water & drought related news from the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

Water Data Library

Data from monitoring stations throughout the state of California.

Data Management

Will you be starting a project from scratch that will require your attention for months, even years OR are you continuing a project started by somebody else?

The Data Management Program is here to help make both of these situations less painful. We can help you with

  • Organization: keep track of your files so that you know what is in them
  • Consistent data entry: design data collection forms in such a way that everybody doing the same experiment records the results the same way every time
  • Database structure: move from unwieldy spreadsheets to databases
  • GIS and maps: consult with our GIS expert on all stages of a project that includes geospatial data, from planning to creating interactive maps.
  • Finding data: not all data sharing portals are obvious, and we can help with that.
  • Cleaning data: stop doing repetitive copy/paste; check out some of our workshops to find a better way
  • Getting credit for data: get your dataset noticed and cited by placing it in the right data repository

    • Note: many funding agencies require that you provide open access to your data!

For more information, visit our website or contact us at dataserv@ucdavis.edu

Finding GIS Data

Finding existing GIS data is a common but often difficult task.  Sometimes the data you would like is simply not available, but other times it’s just difficult to find.  Here are some strategies for finding data.

Search Engines

Searching for data online is going to require a search engine.  Many search engines have advanced options that can help narrow down a search or restrict the results.  For example, Google has menus for Settings and Tools, as well as searches targeted to specific results like images.

Search Terms

Keep your search terms broad.  Also, try synonyms for terms you are interested in.  For example, if you were looking for a shapefile of beaches in California, you might search try separate searches for “beach shapefile” or “coast shapefile”.  Also, try synonyms for the data type. “GIS”, “map”, “geospatial”, and “shapefile” might find different but relevant results.

Think about how data might be developed or what kinds of layers would go into your analysis rather than terms that define your final product.  For example, you might be interested in identifying areas considered a “food desert” but you might need to look for layers for “census data” and “grocery store locations”.

Results

Search results for geospatial data often fall into one of three categories.

  1. Good: blog posts explaining where to find data, why there is a lack of data, or what tools could be of use for your field.
  2. Better: Question board responses on sites like Stack Exchange. These can be a treasure trove of solutions, but also frustrating if your question was posted a while ago and has no answers.
  3. Best: Sites like repositories with links to download the data you are looking for. Don’t forget to check for metadata so you have some provenance for your data.

 

Data Repositories

Data repositories are places that store data.  Many public repositories are themed by subject or by the entity that produces the data.  For example, many California counties, the State of California, and the federal government have their own repositories for GIS data, including repositories for specific agencies.  Data Basin is an example of subject-specific repository that focuses on data for environmental stewardship.

 

Academic Publications

Researchers in your field may be using datasets that are useful for your research.  Read the methods section and citations list to look for sources of datasets and links to how to access the data.

 

Ask for help

On campus, talk to the Library’s GIS Data Curator or ask on the Geospatial email list.  If the data you need is from a particular place, such as a county or conservation organization, you may be able to contact the organization’s GIS, data, or IT staff to ask about the availability of data.  Additionally, posting in online forums (such as the aforementioned Stack Exchange), websites, or social media using keywords that describe the data you need (see the discussion above about synonyms) and hashtags to get a broader audience can be fruitful.

GIS Resources

Drop-In Hours

The UC Davis Library’s Geospatial Data Specialist provides Drop-In Hours on Mondays from 1:30-3:00 in the DataLab Classroom – room 360 in Shields Library. This time is set aside for any and all questions about spatial data, from simple to complex. Library patrons are always welcome to make an appointment for another time with the Geospatial Data Specialist, Michele Tobias, to discuss spatial data.

Email Lists

UC Davis affiliates can sign up for email lists through the UC Davis Information & Educational Technology’s Sympa list serve manager.  The “Geospatial” email list is a widely-used list for UC Davis faculty, students, staff, and local community members who work with any type of geospatial data.  The list can be used for announcements or questions.

Geospatial Software

The geospatial industry has a number of established, well-respected, and long running free and open source projects that may suit the needs of researchers and students.  The Open Source Geospatial Foundation oversees many of these projects, including QGIS (which runs on Mac, Linux, and Windows).

Esri’s ArcGIS suite of software is available to any UC Davis affiliate. Information on product availability, and licensing guides can be found at http://arcgis.ucdavis.edu

GIS Workstation

The lower level of Shields Library has one GIS workstation that UC Davis students, faculty, researchers, and other staff may to use for a maximum of two hours per day. The workstation room is located near, but outside the Map Room and is open the same hours as the Library. The workstation has the full suite of ArcGIS 10 software (available to campus affiliates) and QGIS 3 (available to anyone).

An 11″ x 17″ color scanner is available for maps and aerial photography.

Workstation use must comply with UC Davis Computer Use Policies and the Library Computer Use Policy as well as the following guidelines:

  • GIS software and data licensed by the library may not be used for commercial purposes.
  • Software and spatial data may be licensed and subject to restrictions on who can use it and how it can be used. We provide GIS users with public domain data and any other data and software that we can under the terms of the licenses.
  • It is advisable to save your data and project files to portable media.