About the Streamer Trace Report

Two Trace Reports

There are two types of trace reports: a summary report with a map and condensed information about the stream trace and a detailed report that includes everything in the summary report plus itemized lists of the water and political features the stream trace intersects.

Streamer Summary Report

Trace Details

Trace Direction: Determined by selecting the Trace Upstream button or the Trace Downstream button. This indicates whether the user is tracing downstream to an outlet such as an ocean or upstream to the head waters.
Trace Origin Stream Name: The name of the stream the user clicked to start the trace. The streams used for the trace are One Million-Scale Streams of the United States from The National Map Small-Scale Collection.
Trace Origin (latitude, longitude): The latitude and longitude (in decimal degrees) of the point that starts the trace.
Trace Origin Elevation (feet): The elevation of the point that starts the trace. The National Elevation Dataset from The National Map is used to find the elevation.

Water Features

Total Length of Traced U.S. Streams (miles): The combined length of all the streams highlighted in the trace.
Outlet Waterbody: The downstream outlet of the traced streams. Only major waterbodies are listed: Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of America, Hudson Bay, Pacific Ocean. If a stream does not reach the coastline, but drains to an interior lake or other interior location then its outlet is listed as Interior Basin.
USGS Stream Gages (count): This is a count of all the stream gages located on the traced streams. Gages used in the trace are the Streamflow Gaging Stations of the United States from The National Map Small-Scale Collection. Many of the gages are actively collecting data but not all are. Gages included in the dataset have a site type in the following list: Estuary, Diversion, Lake, Reservoir, Impoundment, Spring, Stream, Canal, Ditch, Tidal Stream, and Wetland. Additionally, the sites have daily values in the following list of parameters:
     00060 - Streamflow, ft/s
     00065 - Gage height, ft
     00054 - Reservoir storage, acre-ft
     00053 - Surface Area, acres
     00055 - Stream velocity, ft/s
     00059 - Streamflow rate, gal/min
     00062 - Reservoir elevation, ft
     50042 - Discharge, gallons per minute
     50051 - Flow rate, instantaneous, million gallons per day
     72022 - Reservoir contents, M/gal
     99020 - Elevation above National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929, ft
     99060 - Streamflow, m/s
     99065 - Gage height, m
Stream Names (count): A count of distinct stream names included in the trace. If several streams have the same name, the name is only included once.
Waterbody Names (count): A count of distinct waterbody names included in the trace. If several waterbodies have the same name, the name is only included once. The waterbodies used for the trace intersection are the One Million-Scale Waterbodies and Wetlands of the United States from The National Map Small-Scale Collection.

Political Features

U.S. States (count): A count of the states that the traced streams flow through. If the traced streams border the state, the state will also be included in the count. States used for the trace intersection are the One Million-Scale State Boundaries of the United States from The National Map Small-Scale Collection.
U.S. Counties (count): A count of the counties (or county equivalents) that the traced streams flow through. If the traced streams border the county, the county will also be included in the count. Counties used for the trace intersection are the One Million-Scale County Boundaries of the United States from The National Map Small-Scale Collection.
Total County Population (2010): Population in 2010 for all the counties (or county equivalents) that the traced streams flow through. Data was obtained from the 2010 Census Demographic Profile 1 County and Census Tract Geodatabase. Population data for the U.S. Virgin Islands is also from the Census Bureau. While streams may flow through a county, the population in the county may not live near the traced streams or be in the watershed of the traced streams. Conversely, it is possible for a county population to live within the watershed of a stream but not be included in the population total if the traced streams do not flow through the county.
Cities (count): A count of cities that are within three miles of the traced streams. The cities used for the trace intersection are the Cities and Towns of the United States - a dataset of points representing cities. Because the dataset used for the trace intersection is point data and cities are areas, the accuracy of the city count is limited.

Trace Map

The map in the trace report automatically zooms to the extent of the trace. Sometimes it may take a few seconds to draw the traced streams. The user can change the map extent by panning or zooming. Refreshing the page returns the user to the original extent.

Detailed Report

The Streamer Detailed Report provides all of the information described above as well as itemized lists of USGS stream gages, stream names, waterbody names, U.S. states, counties, and cities.

USGS Stream Gages List: A list of USGS stream gages that are on the traced streams. It includes a site number and descriptive station name for each gage. The list is ordered by site number. An asterisk next to the site number marks gages that have near real-time streamflow data. For real-time gages, the site number is a link to the gage's Current Conditions page in the USGS National Water Information System: Web Interface (NWISWeb). For other gages, the site number is a link to the gage's home page in NWISWeb. At NWISWeb the user can get data for discharge, gage height, precipitation, gage location, drainage area, water quality, and more. The type of data available may vary by gage.
Stream Names List: A list of the unique stream names included in the trace. Listed in alphabetical order.
Waterbody Names List: A list of the unique waterbody names for waterbodies that the traced streams intersect. Listed in alphabetical order.
U.S. States List: A list of U.S. states that the traced streams flow through. Listed in alphabetical order.
Counties List: A list of U.S. counties (or county equivalents) that the traced streams flow through. Listed in alphabetical order by state. Each county name is a link to the U.S. Census Bureau State & County QuickFacts page which lists statistics for People, Business, and Geography of the county and state.
Cities List: A list of U.S. cities and towns that are within three miles of the traced streams. Listed in alphabetical order by state.

How to download The National Map Small-Scale Collection map layers

Go to https://www.usgs.gov/programs/national-geospatial-program/small-scale-data.

The map layers used in Streamer are:

One Million-Scale Streams of the United States
One Million-Scale Waterbodies and Wetlands of the United States
Streamflow Gaging Stations of the United States
One Million-Scale National Boundaries of the United States
One Million-Scale State Boundaries of the United States
One Million-Scale County Boundaries of the United States
One Million-Scale Coastlines of the United States
One Million-Scale Major Roads of the United States
North American Atlas - Roads
Cities and Towns of the United States

Additional map layers used in Streamer:

ArcGIS map services used in Streamer:

The Terrain Base Map is a combination of a custom map service and the World_Terrain_Base map service from Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri).
The Imagery Base Map is a combination of a custom map service and the World_Imagery map service from Esri.