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Hydrologic Response Units

Units of common soils, land cover, and slope used in continuous simulation modeling.

Description​

Hydrologic response units (HRUs) are discretized landscape units based on common soils, land cover, and slope characteristics. The HRU approach provides a computationally efficient method of pre-computing hydrologic response for later use. Results for a particular watershed can be calculated by summing or averaging the results for individual HRUs.

Each combination of parameters was modeled in separate batched simulations. HRUs were designated by a three-digit number according to the following convention:

  • First digit: Hydrologic Soil Group Number (0 = A/B, 1 = C, 2 = Saturated)
  • Second digit: Land cover (0=Forest, 1=Pasture, 2=Lawn, 5=Impervious)
  • Third Digit: Slope (0=Flat, 1=Mod, 2=Steep)

For example, a site with Type C soils, with forested land cover, on a moderate slope would be represented by 101. This schema allowed for HRUs to be stored as an eight-bit unsigned integer on a Puget-Sound wide raster, minimizing storage size.

Layer Access in Earth Engine​

The javascript commands below can be used to access this layer within the Google Earth Engine Code Editor. A Google Earth Engine account is required.

// Import the layer data dictionary
var data = require('users/stormwaterheatmap/apps:data/public')

// To view data dictionary, print to the console:
print('Data:', data)

//Get this layer from the layer data dictionary:
var layer_name = data.rasters["Hydrologic Response Units"]

Viewing​

Individual objects contain all the info used in the stormwater heatmap. To add it to the map, add the layer object.

var display_image = layer_name.layer
Map.addLayer(display_image)

Analysis​

To get the raw image data for analysis, access the eeObject key.

var raw_image = layer_name.layer.eeObject
Map.addLayer(raw_image,{},'Hydrologic Response Units')

Layer Full-Extent Download​

Click the "download" link to initiate the download process. The data will download as a GeoTIFF file (the file size is listed beside the layer name) and a WGS 84 projection. The resolution is the finest available based on the source data.

Hydrologic Response Units (99.4 MB) download

Visualization​

Palette​

LabelRaster valueColors
Outwash, Forest, Flat0 #e5f5f9
Outwash, Forest, Moderate1 #99d8c9
Outwash, Forest, Steep2 #2ca25f
Outwash, Pasture, Flat10 #e0ecf4
Outwash, Pasture, Moderate11 #9ebcda
Outwash, Pasture, Steep12 #8856a7
Outwash, Lawn , Flat20 #e0f3db
Outwash, Lawn , Moderate21 #a8ddb5
Outwash, Lawn , Steep22 #43a2ca
Till, Forest, Flat100 #ece7f2
Till, Forest, Moderate101 #a6bddb
Till, Forest, Steep102 #2b8cbe
Till, Pasture, Flat110 #ece2f0
Till, Pasture, Moderate111 #a6bddb
Till, Pasture, Steep112 #1c9099
Till, Lawn , Flat120 #e7e1ef
Till, Lawn , Moderate121 #c994c7
Till, Lawn , Steep122 #dd1c77
Saturated, Forest, Flat200 #fde0dd
Saturated, Forest, Moderate201 #fa9fb5
Saturated, Forest, Steep202 #c51b8a
Saturated, Pasture, Flat210 #edf8b1
Saturated, Pasture, Moderate211 #7fcdbb
Saturated, Pasture, Steep212 #2c7fb8
Saturated, Lawn , Flat220 #f7fcb9
Saturated, Lawn , Moderate221 #addd8e
Saturated, Lawn , Steep222 #31a354
Impervious, Flat250 #fee6ce
Impervious, Moderate251 #fdae6b
Impervious, Steep252 #e6550d

Source​

The Nature Conservancy