HydroDesktop is a free and open source desktop application developed in C# .NET that serves as a client for CUAHSI HIS WaterOneFlow Web services data and includes data discovery, download, visualization, editing, and integration with other analysis and modeling tools. By communicating with WaterOneFlow, HydroDesktop gives the user access to rich hydrologic datasets that have been published using this Web service standard.
The HydroDesktop source code is hosted on Codeplex. For more information about CUAHSI HIS, see the HIS Website.
Help Pages:
On this Page:
Distribution
HydroDesktop and all associated source code and documentation are available at the following URL:
http://www.HydroDesktop.org
Copyright (c) 2010, CUAHSI
All rights reserved.
• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
• Neither the name of CUAHSI nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Disclaimer
Although much effort has been expended in the development and testing of the HydroDesktop, errors and inadequacies may still occur. Users must make the final evaluation as to the usefulness of HydroDesktop for his or her application.
HydroDesktop, CUAHSI HIS, and this software manual are based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Acknowledgements
HydroDesktop is in development at Brigham Young University and led by Dr. Daniel P. Ames (dan.ames@byu.edu). Development is supported by the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences, Inc. (CUAHSI) under NSF Grant Nos. 03-26064 and 07-53521.
If you use HydroDesktop in your research, please consider citing both the HydroDesktop web site (www.hydrodesktop.org) and the paper that describes the software:
Ames, D.P., Horsburgh, J.S., Cao, Y., Kadlec, J., Whiteaker, T., and Valentine, D., 2012. HydroDesktop: Web Services-Based Software for Hydrologic Data Discovery, Download, Visualization, and Analysis.Environmental Modelling & Software. Vol 37, pp 146-156. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2012.03.013
The CUAHSI HIS was originally developed through a research project supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant Nos. 04-12975, 041-3265, and 06-22374. The leadership of the project team consisted of:
- David Maidment (University of Texas at Austin Center for Research in Water Resources), Project Leader and Principal Investigator
- David G. Tarboton (Utah State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Utah Water Research Laboratory), Project Deputy Leader and Co-PI
- Ilya Zaslavsky (San Diego Super Computer Center Spatial Information Systems Lab), Co-PI
- Daniel P. Ames (Idaho State University Department of Geosciences), Co-PI
- Jon Goodall (University of South Carolina Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering), Co-PI
Technical Support
Ongoing support for HydroDesktop is coordinated through CUAHSI and is supported by NSF Grant Nos. 03-26064 and 07-53521. For questions, comments, or if additional information is required, please contact:
Jon Pollak
CUAHSI
196 Boston Avenue Suite 3800
Medford, MA, USA 02155
JPollak@CUAHSI.org
WaterOneFlow Web Service
Web services are like programs that you access on the Internet, which typically have one distinct “service” that they provide to you. WaterOneFlow is a Web service whereby you provide a location, a variable of interest (e.g., streamflow), and a time period, and it returns a time series of data. The output format from WaterOneFlow is an XML language called WaterML that includes both the time series data and also the metadata to fully describe the data. This is a standard design that dozens of agencies and universities now use to publish their data.
HydroDesktop knows how to request data from a WaterOneFlow Web service and translate the WaterML response into your local database so that you can get on with your analysis. It handles this details of communicating with Web services so that you don’t have to.
Data Management
HydroDesktop works with both spatial and temporal data. Spatial data tend to be in the form of shapefiles, and some shapefiles such as basemap data are distributed with HydroDesktop. Extensions can enable HydroDesktop to work with additional spatial data types such as online map services.
Temporal data are stored in a relational database called the Data Repository. By default, SQLite is used as the database format. Tools in HydroDesktop know how to read this database and present information from it to the user. A default database is included with HydroDesktop, but you can and are encouraged to create and use your own project-specific databases. These databases are filled with temporal data that you acquire through data searches, data import, or data generation using models and analytical tools.
HydroDesktop also has the ability to query a given data service to figure out what data are available through the service. It stores this catalog of available data in another database called the Metadata Cache. To keep things clean, this database is kept separate from the Data Repository. Think of the Metadata Cache as a description of all data from all remote data sources that your installation of HydroDesktop knows about, and the Data Repository as a collection of data that you’ve actually downloaded from data sources and saved.
For more information on data management see Working with Databases.
The Map
HydroDesktop displays spatial data in the map. For more information on working with the map see Working with the Map.
Search
HydroDesktop can search for hydrologic time series data, download it, and save it to your local Data Repository database. When searching for data, you can specify the following filters: region of interest, parameter, time range, and data source. When the search results are returned, you can further filter the results and then choose which data you want to actually download.
For more information on search see Searching for Data.
Projects
You save elements of a HydroDesktop session in a project file. The project file keeps track of which Data Repository database you were using, what layers you had in your map, how those layers were symbolized, etc.
Getting Help
There are a variety ways of getting help with HydroDesktop:
- Click buttons on the Help tab of the ribbon. The Help tab has buttons for opening the help system, leaving a comment, etc.
- Click help buttons on the specific HydroDesktop tools that you are using, if available.
- Add to discussions and issues on the HydroDesktop Website.
