National Streamflow Statistics Program

Contact Robert R. Holmes, Jr.

Summary of NSS

NAME

NSS - The National Streamflow Statistics Program

ABSTRACT

Estimates of streamflow statistics are used for a variety of water-resources and emergency planning, management, and regulatory purposes, and for design of structures such as bridges and culverts. These estimates are often needed at ungaged sites where no observed flood data are available.

To provide simple methods of estimating streamflow statistics, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has developed and published regression equations estimating the magnitude and frequency of floods for every State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and a number of metropolitan areas in the United States, and regression equations for estimating other streamflow statistics are available for many states. These equations have been compiled into the National Streamflow Statistics (NSS) Program.

METHOD

NSS is a Visual Basic program that can be used to:

Obtain estimates of various streamflow statistics for sites in rural (non-regulated) ungaged basins.
Obtain estimates of flood frequencies for sites in urbanized basins.
Obtain indicators of the errors associated with the estimated streamflow statistics, which may include any combination of the standard errors of estimate or prediction, the equivalent years of record, or 90-percent prediction intervals.
Obtain estimates for ungaged sites by use of the Region-of-Influence method, which generates a custom regression equation for each ungaged site, in areas where the method has been implemented.
Estimate maximum floods based on envelope curves developed by Crippen and Bue (1977).
Create hydrographs of estimated floods for sites in rural or urban basins and manipulate the appearance of the graphs.
Create flood-frequency curves for sites in rural or urban basins and manipulate the appearance of the curves.
Obtain improved flood-frequency estimates for gaging stations by weighting estimates obtained from the systematic flood records for the stations with estimates obtained from regression equations.
Obtain improved flood-frequency estimates for ungaged sites by weighting estimates obtained from the regression equations with estimates obtained by applying the flow per unit area for an upstream or downstream gaging station to the drainage area for the ungaged site.
Save output from the program in text and graphic files.
Obtain documentation and instruction for use of the program from help files.

Note: References to commercial vendors of software products or services is for informational purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

DATABASE

NSS works in concert with a Microsoft Access database, NSSv4_ MM-DD-YYYY.mdb, where MM is the month, DD is the day, and YYYY is the year, of the most recent release. The database contains the information needed to solve the regression equations for each State. As new equations become available, the NSS database will be updated and links to new documentation will be provided from the NSS web site. Users should check often to determine if the database has been updated with new equations for their areas of interest. In addition, users wishing to use region-of-influence regression for states where is has been implemented need to download additional file from the NSS web page and place in the directory in which the software and database are installed.

HISTORY

Version history can be obtained at http://water.usgs.gov/osw/programs/nss/history.html.

DATA REQUIREMENT

NSS requires user input of physical and climatic characteristics used as independent variables in the equations. Manual or automated methods for measuring the input parameters are described in documentation provided for each state.

OUTPUT OPTIONS

Output is provided in the NSS user interface, and includes input parameters, peak-flow estimates, standard errors, and equivalent years of record. This output can be saved to a text file or printed. Hydrographs and frequency plots are presented in separate windows. The graphs and data used to create them can be saved to bitmap files or printed.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

NSS requires a computer running Windows 98 (or newer) or Windows NT Version 4.0 with service pack 5 (or higher). Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to display or print the User Manual in PDF format; however, the User Manual is available in other formats in addition to PDF. Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 or newer is required to invoke the on-line help section. The amount of free disk space that is required varies greatly depending on the amount of station data stored in database files. For optimal performance, a processor running at 400 megahertz or faster with at least 128 megabytes of memory is recommended.

DOCUMENTATION

A brief description of NSS is provided in:

: Turnipseed, D.P., and Ries, K.G., III, 2007, The National Streamflow Statistics Program: Estimating high and low streamflow statistics for ungaged sites: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet XXX-07, 4 p.

Documentation of the program history, content, theory, and application, including a users manual, is contained in:

: The National Streamflow Statistics Program: A computer program for estimating streamflow statistics for ungaged sites U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods Report, Chapter 6 of Book 4.

Documentation of the equations, maps, and other information needed to solve the regression equations for individual States is provided on line through links from the NSS web page (http://water.usgs.gov/software/nss.html) to the complete original State reports, fact sheets, or still-current pages from the report:

: Jennings, M.E., Thomas, W.O., Jr., and Riggs, H.C., 1994, Nationwide Summary of U.S. Geological Survey Regional Regression Equations for Estimating Magnitude and Frequency of Floods for Ungaged Sites, 1993: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4002, 196 p.

CONTACTS

Inquiries about this software should be directed to:

: Robert R. Holmes, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE
U.S. Geological Survey
1400 Independence Road
Mail Stop 430
Rolla, MO 65401

Electronic mail: bholmes@usgs.gov
Phone: 573-308-3581
Fax: 573-308-3652