Ronald B. Zelt and Laura L. Hallberg 2001 Version 2.0, November 27, 2000 map Cheyenne, Wyoming U.S. Geological Survey http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?yell_drarea As part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, an investigation of the Yellowstone River Basin study unit is being conducted to document status and trends in surface- and ground-water quality. Surface-water samples are collected from streams or lakes at specific sampling stations. Water-quality characteristics at each station are influenced by the natural and cultural characteristics of the drainage area upstream from the sampling station. Efficient quantification of the drainage area characteristics requires a digital map of the drainage area boundary that may be processed, together with other digital thematic maps (such as geology or land use), in a geographic information system (GIS). Digital drainage-area data for 45 selected stream-sampling stations in the Yellowstone River Basin are included in this data release. The drainage divides were identified chiefly using 1:100,000-scale (50 m accuracy) hypsography. Drainage areas based on 1:100,000-scale hypsography data generally agree to within 5 percent with drainage areas measured at 1:24,000 scale, for areas larger than 50 km2. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began full implementation of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program in 1991. The program objectives are to describe current water-quality conditions and trends over time; and to improve our understanding of the natural and human factors that affect water quality. The Yellowstone River Basin (YRB) is one of more than 50 areas to be studied for this program. Among the principal program activities, water, bed-sediment, and tissue samples are collected from streams or lakes at specific sampling stations and analyzed for a large suite of chemical and physical constituents. Water-quality characteristics at each station are influenced by the natural and cultural characteristics of the drainage area upstream from the sampling station. Efficient quantification of drainage area characteristics requires a digital map of the drainage area boundary that may be processed, together with other digital thematic maps (such as geology or land use), in a geographic information system (GIS). For NAWQA, sampling stations typically have drainage areas ranging from 50 to 500 km2 (indicator sites) or are located downstream of large river basins. Drainage areas based on 1:100,000-scale hypsography data generally agree to within 5 percent with drainage areas measured at 1:24,000 scale, for areas larger than 50 km2. Therefore, the digital drainage-area data for 45 selected stream-sampling stations in the Yellowstone River Basin were based chiefly on 1:100,000-scale (50 m accuracy) hypsography. This data set supersedes one released previously (Zelt and Hallberg, 2000). For the Montana part of the YRB study unit, an existing source of digital drainage area boundaries was available at a nominal scale of 1:100,000. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service had delineated hydrologic unit boundaries at their Watershed (11-digit) level. The digital data were converted to Arc/Info vector format by the Montana State Library. Existing watershed boundaries often do not correspond exactly with the drainage area for a sampling station because watersheds typically begin at stream confluences, whereas sampling stations typically are located upstream from confluences. Digital raster graphic (DRG) images of USGS topographic quadrangles recently became available at nominal scales of 1:24,000 and 1:100,000. These georeferenced images contain the necessary hypsographic information to guide the delineation and digitization of drainage area boundaries. Where modifications or additions to existing watershed boundaries were needed, DRG images often were used as the base for new drainage divide data. For the Wyoming part of the YRB study unit, no existing source of digital drainage area boundaries was identified at a scale larger than 1:250,000. However, hypsographic digital data at 1:100,000 scale were available statewide. Those data are available both in DRG image format and in digital line graph (DLG) format, which is readily converted to Arc/Info vector format. The eight DLG files of hypsography data that compose each USGS 30- by 60-minute quadrangle were processed in a standardized fashion to produce a single Arc/Info-format hypsography data set per quadrangle. Delineation and digitization of most drainage divides for Wyoming was based on the digital hypsography data. Final steps in the data set production included the assembly of polygons, addition of polygon label points (coded as to station number), and checks for various types of errors. Additional details are presented in the Data Quality section of the metadata. Three sampling stations have drainage areas represented by multiple polygons in the digital data set, for reasons explained here. Station 06186500 drains an area that includes the Two Ocean Pass wetlands that receives runoff from about 3.8 sq. mi. and drains to headwater streams of both the Yellowstone and Snake River systems. The Two Ocean Pass drainage is isolated as a separate polygon (YELL_DRAREA-ID = 2). Station 06214500 drains a large non-contributing area (400 sq. mi.) that is isolated as a separate polygon. Station 06308500 was relocated on Oct. 4, 1995, moving 2.5 miles downstream. The additional drainage area included for the new location was added as a separate polygon with area of about 17 sq. mi. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this Federal Geographic Data Committee-compliant metadata file is intended to document the data set in nonproprietary form, as well as in ARC/INFO format, this metadata file may include some ARC/INFO-specific terminology. 1996 latest publication date among data sources Complete As Needed -111.26828878 -103.82351562 47.83710942 42.423781 none drainage area drainage basin river basin watershed inlandWaters none Yellowstone River Yellowstone River Basin Montana North Dakota Wyoming none These data are not for use at map scales greater than 1:100,000. Ronald B. Zelt U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologist mailing address

2617 E. Lincolnway, Suite B

Cheyenne WY 82001-5662 USA 1-888-275-8747 (307) 778-2764 rbzelt@usgs.gov Prefer e-mail. Prepared as part of the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program. Windows_NT, 4.0, Intel ARC/INFO version 8.0.2 Ronald B. Zelt and Laura L. Hallberg 2000 Version 1.2, March 24, 2000 map Cheyenne, Wyoming U.S. Geological Survey http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?wshed_yell Polygon and line feature attribute values were inspected and found to be consistently coded as described in the Entity and Attribute Information. When aggregated by station drainage area, the digitized areas for the stations that had pre-existing records in the NWIS site file had a mean absolute deviation of 1.2 percent (and median of 0.35 percent) from the NWIS drainage area value. However, excluding the drainage area for Clarks Fork Yellowstone River at Edgar, Mont. (for which the NWIS record appears questionable), the mean absolute deviation is 0.8 percent of the NWIS total drainage area. The comparative data are listed in the table below. > Table of comparative drainage-area data for selected sampling stations having previously > published drainage areas, Yellowstone River Basin, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > NWIS GIS Drainage > Drainage Drainage Area > Area Area Disparity > StationID Station Name (sq.mi.) (sq.mi.) (percent) > ---------------------------------------------------------- -------- -------- --------- > 06186500 YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT YELLOWSTONE LK OUTLET, YNP 1,006 991.3 -1.46 > 06191500 YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT CORWIN SPRINGS, MT 2,623 2,619.1 -0.15 > 06192500 YELLOWSTONE RIVER NEAR LIVINGSTON, MT 3,551 3,555.5 0.13 > 06205200 YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT LAUREL, MT 8,189 8,218.3 0.36 > 06208500 CLARKS FORK YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT EDGAR, MT 2,032 2,245.6 10.5 > 06214500 YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT BILLINGS MT 11,795 11,805.2 0.09 > 06218000 YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT CUSTER, MT 14,427 14,147.3 -1.94 > 06279500 BIGHORN RIVER AT KANE, WY 15,765 15,762.2 -0.02 > 06279795 CROW CREEK AT MOUTH, AT PAHASKA, WY 19.1 19.1 0.00 > 06285500 SAGE CREEK NEAR LOVELL, WY 381 363.3 -4.65 > 06289000 LITTLE BIGHORN RIVER AT STATE LINE, MT 193 182.0 -5.70 > 06294500 BIGHORN RIVER AB TULLOCK CR, NR BIGHORN, MT 22,414 22,400.3 -0.06 > 06295000 YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT FORSYTH, MT. 40,339 40,146.1 -0.48 > 06298000 TONGUE RIVER NEAR DAYTON, WY 204 206.0 0.98 > 06305700 GOOSE CREEK NR ACME, WY 411 412.9 0.46 > 06306300 TONGUE R AT STATE LINE NR DECKER MT 1,477 1,452.8 -1.64 > 06308500 TONGUE RIVER AT MILES CITY, MT 5,397 5,404.2 0.13 > 06309000 YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT MILES CITY, MT 48,253 48,268.5 0.03 > 06313400 SALT CREEK NEAR SUSSEX, WY 769 769.6 0.08 > 06316400 CRAZY WOMAN CREEK AT UPPER STA, NEAR ARVADA, WY 945 936.6 -0.89 > 06324970 LITTLE POWDER RIVER AB DRY C NR WESTON, WY 1,235 1,237.0 0.16 > 06326500 POWDER RIVER NEAR LOCATE, MT 13,189 13,068.0 -0.92 > 06326530 YELLOWSTONE RIVER NEAR TERRY, MT 63,447 63,233.1 -0.34 > 06327500 YELLOWSTONE RIVER AT GLENDIVE, MT 66,788 66,718.8 -0.10 > 06329500 YELLOWSTONE RIVER NEAR SIDNEY, MT 69,103 69,082.5 -0.03 > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Line attributes were checked using the Frequency algorithm. All source codes present are explained in the Entity and Attribute Overview. Polygon and chain-node topology present. The polygons coded as noncontributing areas are not a complete set of such areas in the YRB. Only two large noncontributing areas draining to closed basins adjacent to the northern boundary of the YRB, north of Billings, Mont., are included in the data set. Many other surface-water sampling stations have been established within the YRB. The data set includes drainage areas only for a selected set of sampling stations used for the USGS NAWQA study of the YRB during 1998-2000. Tolerances were maintained as follows: > Tolerance Value > --------------- ------------- > Fuzzy 2.000 Verified > Dangle 40.000 Verified > Node Snap 40.000 Verified > Weed 2.000 Verified > Grain 25.000 Verified The absolute horizontal accuracy, that is, actual difference in position between the physical drainage-area boundaries and the corresponding digital locations given in this data set, is unknown. The relative horizontal accuracy is source-dependent and is based chiefly on the 1:100,000-scale USGS topographic map series. The approximate horizontal accuracy of the 1:100,000-scale source data is 51 meters, assuming that the source materials meet National Map Accuracy Standards, as reported. However, the accuracy of the watershed boundaries in relation to the 1:100,000-scale topographic contour data appears to be slightly less accurate, and is considered to be positionally correct to within 80 meters wherever contour data exist in the source materials. Technical reviewers of the data set examined about 8 percent of the line segments (including at least one segment from each data source). The reviewers found only one segment (about 300 meters in length) that deviated by more than 80 meters from the alignment they considered to be correct (based on the 1:100,000-scale topographic contour data). That short segment was corrected, but one can logically deduce that the remaining 92 percent of line segments that were not inspected may contain a similar proportion of errors. Technical reviewers also detected needed changes to linework where the location of the USGS sampling station had been updated, causing a shift in position of the downstream end of the drainage area. The needed changes to the digital boundaries were made, but the implication remains that any remaining errors in sampling station positions, or subsequent relocations of sampling stations, will cause corresponding errors in the digital drainage-area boundaries. The digital map elements were edge matched against the data for the adjacent quadrangle. Edge match locations generally do not deviate from centerline to centerline by more than 51 meters (0.02 in.). One connector segment was added where edge match locations deviated by more than 51 meters. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Montana State Office 1996 map Helena, MT Montana State Library http://nris.state.mt.us/nsdi/nris/ 100,000 digital 1996 publication date MT NRCS All lines having attribute SOURCE = 3001. U.S. Geological Survey 1985 map Reston, Virginia U.S. Geological Survey http://edc.usgs.gov/doc/edchome/ndcdb/ndcdb.html http://edc.usgs.gov/fgdc/100kdlg.html 100,000 digital 1974 1993 publication dates of topographic source maps DLG All lines having attribute SOURCE coded as 3002, 3802, 5602, or 5603. U.S. Geological Survey 1996 1.0 map Sioux Falls, S. Dak. U.S. Geological Survey http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/glis/hyper/guide/drg http://nris.mt.gov/nsdi/drg.html http://wgiac.state.wy.us/wsdc/usgs/drg/AboutDRG.html 24,000 and 100,000 digital 1998 data of access to electronic information DRG Lines having attribute SOURCE coded as 3004 or 5604 (scale 1:24,000). Lines having attribute SOURCE coded as 3005 or 5605 (scale 1:100,000). Select subset of the MT NRCS data that includes boundaries of the Montana part of the target drainage areas. Processing commenced 19980828 19981109 Interactively digitize Wyoming part of the target drainage area boundary using DLG hypsography and hydrography as onscreen backdrop, and referring as needed to published color maps of topographic quadrangles at scales of 1:100,000 and 1:24,000. Processing commenced 19980902 19981109 Interactive digitizing of drainage boundary in vicinity of gaging station (or where needed elsewhere) using DRG display as backdrop for onscreen digitizing. Processing commenced 19980902 19981109 Standardized feature attribute tables for the separate partial data sets. 19981109 Appended separate partial data sets to complete the drainage areas. Processing commenced 19980902 19981109 Interactive closure of gaps in the drainage area boundaries; placement of polygon label point at (or near) gaging-station site; and coding of line segments as to SOURCE attribute. Processing commenced 19980902 19981109 Added boundaries of non-contributing areas and added polygon feature attribute to code such areas. 19981125 Update topology and check attribute tables. 19981130 Following technical review, interactive editing was used to make corrections to several line features, particularly at the downstream ends of drainage areas where sampling station locations had been updated or corrected subsequent to initial creation of the data set in 1998. Several label points then had to be repositioned to place them back into the correct polygon. Two "dangling arcs" were deleted. Original linework (that is, not copied from another source) was processed with "UNSPLIT" to reduce the number of line segments and nodes in the data set. Also, station number 425440109152501 was changed to 435440109152501, to reflect the change made to the NWIS record. Updated topology and checked attribute tables. 20000324 Updated data set to add drainage areas for stations added for study components completed during 2000. Added linework and labels using same procedures as for previous version of data set, except that more of the heads-up digitizing used DRGs rather than DLG-source data as backdrop. Updated line and polygon topology. Populated feature attributes. Checked for dangling arcs, polygon label errors, and reviewed attributes. 20001127 Update of metadata by rbzelt using FGDCMETA.AML ver. 1.33 07/15/99 on ARC/INFO data set e:\temp\yell_drarea 20001127 Vector Point 49 String 735 GT-polygon composed of chains 50 Albers Conical Equal Area 29.5 45.5 -107.5 23 0.00000 0.00000 coordinate pair 1.0 1.0 Meters North American Datum of 1927 Clarke 1866 6378206.4 294.98 Polygon feature attributes are stored in Info table <cover>.PAT, which has the following columns structure: > >COLUMN ITEM NAME WIDTH OUTPUT TYPE N.DEC Short description > 1 AREA 8 18 F 5 > 9 PERIMETER 8 18 F 5 > 17 YELL_DRAREA# 4 5 B - > 21 YELL_DRAREA-ID 4 5 B - > 25 STAID 15 15 C - USGS Station identifier > 40 CONTRIB 1 1 C - contributing-area flag > 41 SUBBASIN 6 6 I - code identifying subbasins within YRB > 47 AREA_MI2 4 8 F 2 polygon area, in square miles > Linear feature attributes are stored in Info table <cover>.AAT, which has the following columns structure: > >COLUMN ITEM NAME WIDTH OUTPUT TYPE N.DEC Short description > 1 FNODE# 4 5 B - > 5 TNODE# 4 5 B - > 9 LPOLY# 4 5 B - > 13 RPOLY# 4 5 B - > 17 LENGTH 8 18 F 5 > 25 YELL_DRAREA# 4 5 B - > 29 YELL_DRAREA-ID 4 5 B - > 33 SOURCE 4 5 B - Data source code > A symbol look-up table is stored in Info table <cover>.LUT, which has the following columns structure: > >COLUMN ITEM NAME WIDTH OUTPUT TYPE N.DEC > 1 SYMBOL 4 5 B - (see below) > 5 SOURCE 4 5 B - (see below) > STAID - USGS Station ID defined in NWIS Site File; unique identifier per station. However, the value of STAID is not unique per polygon in several cases: > (1) Two polygons are coded with a STAID of 06186500. The small > drainage area at Two Ocean Pass actually drains to both the larger > polygon coded with a STAID of 06186500 and to the Snake River basin. > (2) Two polygons are coded with a STAID of 06308500. This gaging station has > been moved to the north and now includes the drainage area from both polygons. > (3) Two polygons each are coded with STAID of 06214500 and 06295000. These are > non-contributing drainage areas included in the total drainage area of the > respective stations. CONTRIB - Flag identifying contributing drainage areas, as follows: > Y - Area does contribute to surface drainage area of station. > N - Area is considering noncontributing area for station. SUBBASIN - Code identifying subbasin within the Yellowstone River Basin, as follows: > 100700 - Upper Yellowstone River Basin > 100800 - Big Horn River Basin > 100901 - Tongue River Basin > 100902 - Powder River Basin > 101001 - Middle Yellowstone River Basin > 101002 - Lower Yellowstone River Basin AREA_MI2 - Area of polygon, in square miles (floating-point real number), calculated from the native-GIS polygon area, which is stored in square meters. SOURCE - Code identifying source of boundary segment, as follows: > 3001 - Copied or only slightly modified from MT NRCS watershed boundary data. > 3002 - Original digital data; based on Montana DLG hypsography. > 3004 - Original digital data; based on Montana 1:24,000-scale DRG. > 3005 - Original digital data; based on Montana 1:100,000-scale DRG. > 3802 - Original digital data; based on North Dakota DLG hypsography. > 5602 - Original digital data; based on Wyoming DLG hypsography. > 5603 - Continental divide; copied from Wyoming DLG hypsography. > 5604 - Original digital data; based on Wyoming 1:24,000-scale DRG. > 5605 - Original digital data; based on Wyoming 1:100,000-scale DRG. > 9999 - Connector segment needed for transition between sources > or at quadrangle boundaries. SYMBOL - Symbol number used to display the data set coded by data source. A second look-up table is stored in Info table <cover>.DISSOL, which has the following columns structure: > >COLUMN ITEM NAME WIDTH OUTPUT TYPE N.DEC Short description > 1 STANAME 50 50 C - Sampling station name > 51 STAID 15 15 C - USGS station identifier > 66 DRAREACOV 9 9 C - Name for an output data subset > 75 ONE_STAID 1 1 C - Logical flag (see below) > 76 SIDNEY 1 1 C - Yellowstone River near Sidney, MT > 77 FORSYTH 1 1 C - Yellowstone River at Forsyth, MT > 78 BILLINGS 1 1 C - Yellowstone River at Billings, MT > 79 CORWIN 1 1 C - Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs > 80 LOCATE 1 1 C - Powder River at Locate, MT > 81 DECKER 1 1 C - Tongue River near Decker, MT > 82 BIGKANE 1 1 C - Bighorn River near Kane, WY > 83 BIGLAKE 1 1 C - Bighorn Lake at U.S. Hwy 14-alt. > 84 SHOSHONE 1 1 C - Shoshone River at mouth nr Kane, WY > 85 WOODMF 1 1 C - Wood River above Middle Fork > 86 GLENDIVE 1 1 C - Yellowstone River at Glendive, MT > 87 TERRY 1 1 C - Yellowstone River near Terry, MT > 88 POWDR537 1 1 C - Powder River near Mizpah, MT > 89 SALT524 1 1 C - Salt Creek above Jenks Draw nr Sussex, WY > 90 TONGMILE 1 1 C - Tongue River at Miles City, MT > 91 POWDR531 1 1 C - Powder River bel Robinson Draw nr Arvada, WY > 92 CUSTER 1 1 C - Yellowstone River at Custer, MT > 93 BIGHORN 1 1 C - Bighorn River ab Tullock Cr nr Bighorn, MT > 94 MILESCIT 1 1 C - Yellowstone River at Miles City, MT > 95 CFYEDGAR 1 1 C - Clarks Fork Yellowstone River at Edgar, MT > 96 LAUREL 1 1 C - Yellowstone River at Laurel, MT > 97 GREYCLIF 1 1 C - Yellowstone River at Greycliff, MT > 98 LIVINGST 1 1 C - Yellowstone River at Livingston, MT DRAREACOV - name for an output data subset that may be created using this table (see below for example). DRAREACOV was populated using the following Info expression: > CONCAT DRAREACOV FROM 'T',STAID ONE_STAID - logical flag for sampling stations whose drainage area is composed of a single polygon. Encoded as: > Y = single-polygon drainage area. > N = multiple-polygon drainage area. The use of this look-up table is illustrated by the following simple example, performed using the TABLES module of Arc/Info: > Tables: asel > 45 Records Selected. > Tables: res LOCATE = 'Y' > 7 Records Selected. > Tables: li STAID,STANAME > Record STAID STANAME > 20 06313400 SALT CREEK NEAR SUSSEX, WYO. > 21 06316400 CRAZY WOMAN CREEK AT UPPER STA, NEAR ARVADA, WYO > 22 06324970 L POWDER RIVER AB DRY C NR WESTON, WY > 23 06326500 POWDER RIVER NEAR LOCATE, MT. > 29 434037106203001 SALT CREEK ABOVE JENKS DRAW, NEAR SUSSEX, WY > 35 444400106061201 POWDER RIVER BELOW ROBINSON DRAW, NEAR ARVADA, WY > 43 460600105073801 POWDER RIVER NEAR MIZPAH, MT Through establishing a data base relate (using STAID as the relational key), a similar procedure can be used to select the set of polygons that compose the complete drainage area for an individual sampling station. none U.S. Geological Survey Ask USGS - Water Webserver Team mailing

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Reston VA 20192 1-888-275-8747 (1-888-ASK-USGS) http://answers.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/gsanswers?pemail=h2oteam&subject=GIS+Dataset+yell_drarea Although this data set has been used by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the U.S. Geological Survey as to the accuracy of the data and related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the U.S. Geological Survey in the use of this data, software, or related materials. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Export Full coverage zipped 1 http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/dsdl/yell_drarea.e00.gz None. This dataset is provided by USGS as a public service. 20041108 U.S. Geological Survey Ask USGS -- Water Webserver Team mailing

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Reston VA 20192 1-888-275-8747 (1-888-ASK-USGS) http://answers.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/gsanswers?pemail=h2oteam&subject=GIS+Dataset+yell_drarea FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998